


The Coming Together of all that is Good and Beautiful

by dhauren



Series: So The Fallen Shall Rise [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Finally!, Intrigue, Multi, Resolved Sexual Tension, Threesome - F/M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension, for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:28:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dhauren/pseuds/dhauren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve, Darcy, and Bucky eventually realize that living together but separate is a silly idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I took a well-deserved break from the angst that was Bucky’s story (If My Life is a Dream). Being that relentlessly dark and depressed takes a toll. Anyhow…isn’t it about time that we get these three together? I know you’ve been waiting for it. 
> 
> This arc of the story will contain various POVs.

Steve was filthy, sore, exhausted, and very hungry. One of the side effects of the super serum was an insanely fast metabolism, which required fuel on a regular basis. This mission hadn’t really allowed for that, and his body was threatening to start cannibalizing itself soon. 

At his side, Bucky slumped in a debriefing room chair. His feet were propped up on the table, and Bucky was pointedly ignoring the multiple scowls aimed his way. He was dirtier than Steve, if that was possible, and probably even more tired. But there was an inner calmness about him that hadn’t been there before. Having a job, a purpose, suited Bucky. Without it, he tended to be hyper agitated, restless, or depressed.

Many of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents very clearly did not trust Bucky, and weren’t shy about how they felt. Steve worried at first, but when it became clear that Bucky didn’t give a shit, he stopped worrying as much. It didn’t stop him from glaring furiously if someone made a nasty comment, and Captain America’s disapproval was enough to prevent some rough times. Clint and Natasha’s disapproval was even more potent, and both Avenger agents made it clear that they trusted Bucky. 

Still, Steve worried. They hadn’t been able to find out who had been behind the kidnapping and detaining fiasco yet, and Steve had no desire to have his best friend reprogrammed into an unthinking assassin, again. Bucky’s performance during Darcy’s rescue illustrated that his skills were still there, and could be accessed when needed, but the last thing either of them wanted was to see those skills put to use only for assassination. 

Bucky would kill when necessary. He’d told Steve and Darcy that much, after a long heart to heart following Darcy’s rescue. After all, he’d done it while a member of the Howling Commandos. He just didn’t want to be used, against his will, as an emotionless assassin. A killing machine. 

They had gone back to a slightly uneasy peace all together. After the fiasco with Darcy’s kidnapping, Stark had offered them an apartment in one of the buildings he owned. Ever since he’d become Iron Man, the billionaire had started collecting properties around the world, owned in a corporate name that he was pretty sure could not be traced back to him, just to have safe places to stay. And since S.H.I.E.L.D, or the World Security Council, was screwing things up, Tony thought that Steve might not want it known where he was.

Steve didn’t want to owe a debt of any kind to Stark, but he also didn’t want S.H.I.E.L.D to be able to knock on his door and shoot him with tranquilizers again when he opened it. Plus, their old apartment was trashed. Bucky had destroyed the floor in the closet of his old room, and S.H.I.E.L.D had put metal bolts through the living room floor. And there were bullet holes in the walls. It was a mess. Upon being cleared by medical and returning to the apartment, Darcy had taken a quick tour, and had laughingly declared that they weren’t getting their security deposit back.

But any decision would have to include Bucky, because Steve had no intention of letting him go off by himself again. He shouldn’t have allowed it in the first place, but he wanted to respect Bucky’s decisions. Then again, when coming back to yourself after being programmed to be an assassin, after almost dying, well, maybe those decisions had been compromised. 

So after Bucky recovered from his gunshot wound with a little help from Stark’s medical team, Steve and Darcy sat down with him to discuss things. They didn’t want to be separated from him again. Bucky reluctantly admitted the same thing, even though he also didn’t really want to be the ‘fifth wheel’, whatever that meant. Basically, living with a couple made him uncomfortable. Steve sort of understood why. Back in the day, pre-serum, Bucky had regularly brought girls home to the tiny apartment he shared with Steve. Steve had gotten quite a second-hand education at that time, and it was uncomfortable. 

But with the size of apartments nowadays, it wasn’t as much of an issue. There was plenty of room to avoid hearing and seeing things. And Bucky admitted that being by himself was a bad thing. Too much time to think. He also did not want S.H.I.E.L.D easily able to find them, so supported the move idea. 

Fury hadn’t been pleased when he found out Steve was moving himself and Bucky to an undisclosed location. He’d even gone so far as to have the S.H.I.E.L.D HR department call Steve to get the new address, for ‘payroll purposes’. Steve was ready for that though, and had a PO Box address to give them, that was registered through Stark’s company. Stark thought of everything. He was surprisingly helpful.

The moving itself had been a masterpiece of Stark’s cleverness to outwit S.H.I.E.L.D’s best. Steve still chuckled when he thought about it. It had been effective. S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t know where they were. It was driving Fury nuts. But Fury wasn’t the one Steve was worried about. Whoever had sent Fury off to Calcutta was the one he was after, because that was the person who had masterminded the whole thing. That was the person who thought that he (or she) had the right to take Bucky away from him. 

Steve was mature enough to acknowledge that his possessiveness of Bucky was a little strange. But after four years (awake time) of thinking his best friend was dead, his reaction didn’t exactly surprise him. Darcy was completely amused by it, especially when he had gone off in a rant one night. He was working with Clint and Natasha to track down the responsible person, and they had run into another dead end. When he had vented about it, in the privacy of their bedroom, Darcy had tried to reassure him. 

Steve wasn’t really sure what had overtaken him, but at one point, he remembered laying claim to Bucky. “He’s my best friend, Darce. Mine! And no one gets to take him away from me again!”

Her speculative look had made him feel slightly ashamed of his base reaction. It had also had him wondering about that reaction. It wasn’t…normal. 

“Captain Rogers?”

Steve blinked, focusing on Sitwell’s face. He was very tired if he was drifting off in the middle of a debriefing.

“Are we done here?” he asked, weariness coming through in his voice. He just wanted to go home. They’d been away from Darcy for two weeks. 

Sitwell looked apologetic. “Not quite yet, Captain.”

Bucky’s boots slipped off the table and hit the floor with a resounding thud, drawing everyone’s attention. Bucky leaned forward, and smiled his scary smile. “What the captain meant was – we’re done here.”

Steve found it hysterical that Sitwell still bought Bucky’s ‘sociopathic assassin’ routine. The bald agent blinked, looking from Bucky to Steve, and then back to Bucky. He swallowed. “I guess we can wrap up early.”

Bucky’s smile had a lot of teeth in it. “Good decision.” He stood, and stared down at Steve pointedly.

“Right.” Steve somehow managed to stand, and followed Bucky out of the debriefing room. 

Bucky knew him well enough to know that food was needed first, before they could even leave headquarters or shower. Whatever version of the serum Bucky had received didn’t burn as quickly as Steve’s, so he didn’t suffer quite the same if food deprived. Still, he was hungry too. 

They ran into Barton just coming out of the cafeteria. He winced when he saw their appearance, and ordered them to sit. Steve propped his head up with his hands and just sort of slumped into the table. He was eternally grateful when Barton returned with two heaping trays of high energy food. 

“I could kiss you right now,” he mumbled, grabbing a fork and digging in. 

Both Barton and Bucky laughed at that. “Darcy might not like that,” Clint pointed out, slinging himself into a chair. 

“You brought me food,” Steve argued. “She’ll forgive me.”

He streamrolled through the entire tray of food in a very short amount of time, feeling more like a human being once done. Across the table, Bucky looked revived as well, though still very dirty and tired. Steve could feel how dirty he was now, and a shower was definitely next on the list. He wasn’t going home to Darcy smelling this bad. 

Clint seemed to realize that at the same time as Steve did. “You should probably shower,” the archer suggested. “You’re a bit…fragrant…right now.”

Steve ducked his head, hearing Bucky laugh out loud. “Yeah thanks, Barton. My nose works. Thanks for getting the food. I was about ready to fall over.”

The archer nodded. “You two look rough. Heard about the mission. Glad I wasn’t on it. Go shower. Please.”

Steve laughed this time as he hauled his fragrant self out of the cafeteria and toward the showers. Bucky was gliding along behind him, exhaustion shining through now that he had eaten. They must make some sight – Captain America and his best friend, the former Winter Soldier, looking like they’d just crawled out of the primordial ooze. 

By unspoken agreement, or maybe a little help from Barton, the showers were empty by the time they got there. Bucky peeled off to grab towels, while Steve got soap and shampoo. Thankfully, they had clean clothes waiting for them in their lockers. 

Steve peeled off the uniform with a wince. It felt like it was practically bonded to his skin, and that was just gross. “Ugh,” he muttered. 

“Yeah,” Bucky agreed, from down the row. He was pulling his jumpsuit off, face wrinkled in distaste. “I think it’s alive.”

Steve laughed tiredly. “After what we waded through to get to that cartel, it’s a possibility.” He turned to grab at the haphazard pile of towels and washcloths Bucky had dropped onto the bench, and paused for a moment as the overhead lights shone off of Bucky’s fake arm. It was a marvel of technology, seamlessly integrated into his shoulder muscles and nerves, and as flexible as a real arm. Bucky hated it, but also relied on it quite a bit, since it was very strong, and nearly indestructible. 

“You know I hate when you stare at it.”

Bucky’s voice was quiet, but not as angst-ridden as Steve expected, and that was a good thing. “I just…whenever I see it, it reminds me that you’re really here, and not just a figment of my imagination. I wouldn’t have dreamed up a metal arm, so I know you’re real. And that just makes me happy. Everything was dark, after you fell.”

Bucky nodded slowly. “It was. You and Darcy, you’re my light. You brought me back to the light. Don’t let me go back to the dark.”

“Never,” Steve told him fiercely. Neither one of them were looking at each other, but that was okay. They didn’t need to. 

The shower felt like heaven. Steve started to feel more like a human as the filth streamed off of him. Based on Bucky’s almost pornographic moan from the next shower stall, he felt the same way. The sludge they had waded through had clung to them tenaciously, even through a pitched battle and the journey back to headquarters. It had started to feel like a second skin, and Steve was very glad to get rid of it. He definitely felt lighter without it. 

“I think my drain is clogging,” Bucky called, a hint of laughter in his voice. 

Steve blinked water out of his eyes and looked down. His drain was not functioning well either. The water, starting to back up, was decidedly discolored. Steve shuddered to think that all that crap was coming off of him. “Mine too,” he called back. “I think we were carrying a new life form.” 

Thankfully, they were almost done. Steve finished quickly, turned the shower off, and splashed through the not-draining water to escape the sludge.

“Much better,” he sighed, finishing toweling off and pulling on clean clothes. 

“Agreed.” Bucky pulled a shirt over his head and shook his wet hair, sending some splatter Steve’s way. Steve threw his wet towel at him, and Bucky retaliated by snapping him on the ass with it.

Now all that was needed was Darcy and sleep. They separated outside of headquarters, in their usual routine to shake off any possible tails. S.H.I.E.L.D had mostly stopped trying to track them, but Steve wasn’t relaxing that routine. Stark had gifted both of them with a cool little device that would fry any bugs or tracking devices on their person. When they were on a mission, being tracked was a given. After the mission, S.H.I.E.L.D had no right to track them. 

Steve had found trackers in his regular clothes, on his motorcycle, in his wallet, and shoes. Not every day, but often enough. Bucky had found them too, so it was better to be cautious. 

Their routine home was convoluted and designed to befuddle any street level trackers. As far as Steve knew, it was effective. So he wasn’t going to stop doing it, even though it made the trip home longer than it had to be. 

Bucky had edged him out, and was just opening the door to their apartment when Steve stepped off the elevator onto their floor. He heard a squeal of glee from inside the apartment, and had to laugh as Bucky suddenly had an armful of Darcy. She hugged him tightly, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and then saw Steve. With another happy shriek, she squirmed out of Bucky’s arms and ran for Steve. She almost knocked him over in her enthusiasm. 

“I missed you! You smell good. So do you, Buck. You were gone forever!”

Steve wrapped his arms around her tightly. “It was only two weeks, Darce.”

“And we showered!” Bucky called as he entered the apartment. Steve followed, one hand sliding under Darcy’s ass to hold her up as he walked. 

“A good thing we did,” Steve murmured to her. “Barton said we were fragrant.”

Darcy wrinkled her nose. “I’ve smelled Barton after missions. If he said you were fragrant, you must have really reeked.”

Bucky laughed from where he was standing at the refrigerator, downing a bottle of water. “We clogged the shower drains.”

Darcy giggled against Steve’s neck. “That’s just wrong. What were you doing?”

“Wading through sludge,” Steve answered. “Everything else is…”

“Classified!” Darcy and Bucky called at the same time. Steve rolled his eyes. They both found that funny for some reason. He couldn’t understand why.

Darcy insisted on snuggle time after they’d been gone on missions. Bucky had tried to get out of the first one, only to be glared at and chased with the taser until he submitted. So he didn’t even try to avoid it. He settled in on one end of the sofa while Steve sat at the other end. Darcy curled up in the middle, and tugged on their arms until they slid closer to her. This was for her, but Steve knew that he took as much comfort from it as she did, and Bucky even more so. It grounded them, brought them back from the precipice that missions could take them to. 

And of course, they had to watch horrible television. Although this time, Darcy seemed content to allow Bucky to operate the remote. She had her head on Steve’s shoulder, and her feet tucked under Bucky’s legs. 

“I missed you guys,” she said again, drowsily. “You shouldn’t leave me for that long.”

Bucky’s metal hand was curled around her ankle. “Didn’t want to, pumpkin. It was necessary.”

“Did you kick bad-guy ass?”

“Yep. Some nasty child slavers.”

“Good.”

Technically, Bucky shouldn’t even be telling her that much, but Steve knew she needed some tidbits to feel better about them being gone. So he was fine with the little that Bucky shared. 

Either Bucky wasn’t paying attention to the television, or he’d been hit in the head too many times on the mission. Steve blinked in confusion at the romantic comedy currently on the screen, some soppy, semi-tragic mess that included a love triangle of the three main characters. From the side, he couldn’t tell if Bucky was actually watching it, or just staring at the screen. Darcy was nearly asleep, so it wasn’t like the viewing choice was being guided by her preferences. 

Steve dozed off himself, but started awake when he felt movement on the sofa. Bucky was standing, staring almost grimly at the television. 

“Buck?” he ventured softly.

Bucky twitched. “I’m going out for a while, punk. Not tired anymore. Get Darcy to bed, okay? You know she gets cranky when she spends the night on the sofa.”

It was such a strange moment that Steve wasn’t sure how to react. “We’ve been out for two weeks, Buck.”

“Tell Darce I’ll be back sometime tomorrow.”

What was going on? “You’re spending the night somewhere else?”

Bucky finally turned to look at him. “Planning to. Got needs, Steve. Haven’t had much opportunity to take care of them.” He flashed a careless grin that felt fake to Steve. “Gives you two some alone time too.”

Steve couldn’t even identify the feelings he had right now. Confusion. Frustration. Jealousy? He wasn’t even thinking of that one. Bucky was a healthy male. He had every right to want to find a girl to have some fun with. After all, it had been awhile, as he said. But…it felt wrong.

“Be safe, Buck.” 

Steve wasn’t really sure why the closing of the door as Bucky left felt like being shut out of his life. He didn’t like the feeling. He didn’t like the thought of Bucky doing what he’d done in the old days - finding a girl. He knew that Darcy wouldn’t like it either. 

***********************************************************************************************************************************

The slamming of a door woke Steve. He pulled himself away from Darcy’s back and rolled out of bed into a ready stance. But lights were flickering on, which told him that Bucky was back. Steve blinked at the alarm clock. It had only been three hours since he’d left. 

“Steve?” Darcy mumbled. 

“Go back to sleep,” he instructed softly, and she did just that.

If Bucky’s stomping footsteps were any indication, things hadn’t gone well. Steve stumbled out of the bedroom, rubbing at his eyes. Bucky was digging in the refrigerator, and finally pulled out a beer. When he straightened and saw Steve standing in the bedroom door staring at him, he frowned. 

“What happened, Buck?”

Bucky popped open the beer and took a long swallow. Steve appreciated the movement of his throat as he swallowed, then shook his head, trying to clear the sleep cobwebs. What was he thinking? 

“I got arrested,” Bucky finally said in a growl. He was staring at a wall angrily.

“What? What happened?”

Bucky waved at him with the metal arm. “It’s a little hard to hide this when the shirt comes off. So apparently, the girl I met, Katie, she actually watches the news. She remembered me blowing up S.H.I.E.L.D agents on the news as soon as she saw the arm, so she called the police. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, so I just let them arrest me. The police didn’t believe I was a government agent when I showed them the badge, so I had to call Barton to bail me out.” His lips twitched. “That precinct will never, ever, forget how to react when they see a S.H.I.E.L.D badge the next time. Barton was…irritated.”

Steve was too tired for this. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Bucky turned to glare at him. “One – you just got home after a two week mission. You needed time with your girl. Two – having Captain America show up to bail out the man he’d been publicly fighting on the news…probably not good press. Three – just no.”

Steve could see how much it bothered Bucky, what had happened. And he obviously hadn’t gotten any action that could relieve any tensions, so Steve felt pretty bad for him.

“Buck…I’m sorry.”

“Me too. She screamed like I was gonna kill her, Steve. And didn’t stop even when I sat down on the floor with my back against the wall, sitting on my hands.” He slumped. “And then it got worse.”

“How?”

“She…she fangirled on me.”

Darcy had introduced Steve to the modern day terms of fangirl and fanboy, so he knew what it meant. He just wasn’t sure how it could possibly apply in this situation. “What happened?” he asked curiously.

“She asked me what my supervillain name was, and wanted to take a ‘selfie’ with me. Then she called the police back and asked them not to come right away, so she could score a supervillain for bragging rights.”

Steve felt his mouth twitch. It wasn’t funny. It really wasn’t, because it had obviously upset Bucky, but at the same time…it was funny. 

Bucky slumped even further. “Go ahead and laugh,” he grumbled. “Barton did.”

Steve moved close enough to sling an arm around him. “It sucks, Bucky. C’mon…go to bed. It will be better in the morning.”

Bucky had relaxed enough now that he didn’t fight Steve when he was led back to his own room. He was exhausted, Steve could see, every line of his body slumped in weariness. Trying not to sleep, so he apparently suspected bad dreams to be on their way.

It was a little strange to be tucking Bucky into bed like he was a child, but Steve could tell his friend needed it right then. He pulled Bucky’s shoes off, and pulled the blankets up over him as soon as he was settled. Then he rested his hand on Bucky’s forehead, trying to will good dreams his way.

“Sleep well, Bucky.”

He couldn’t hear what his best friend mumbled in response, and retreated out of the room, shutting off lights as he went. With any luck, Bucky would have good dreams, or a dreamless night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between updates! This chapter didn’t like me. It kept going in directions that I didn’t want it to go, and normally, I go with it, but in this case, it was compromising the storyline. I had to keep yanking it back on track, and that took about five rewrites. Grrr….
> 
> Not a lot of relationship building in this one, but just wait till next chapter! It’s almost halfway written already.

He was doing it again. 

Darcy hid her smile. When he thought they weren’t paying attention, Bucky studied her and Steve. He’d been alternately sullen and withdrawn or furiously angry following his ill-fated try at getting some action the other night, so she had been careful of how she treated him. It sucked that his arm was so recognizable, but Darcy couldn’t say she wasn’t relieved that it had turned out as it had. 

Her first reaction, when Steve had whispered an explanation the next morning, was to go to Bucky and comfort him. He was still so fragile, and that had to have been a blow. But she also recognized that he wouldn’t appreciate it. Her second reaction, relief, had her questioning her own feelings. She felt relief because she didn’t want to lose Bucky. And if he found someone to spend more time with, it was almost inevitable that they would lose him, and that felt wrong. 

Steve felt the same way. He didn’t express it out loud, but sometimes his inner Neanderthal came roaring out. One memorable moment, after another dead end that didn’t lead to the mastermind of the ‘snatch Bucky’ plan, Steve grew very eloquent about his feelings. Bucky was his, and anyone who thought they could take him away from Steve was in for a re-education.

Not the typical reaction of a male best friend. Darcy examined it in her head ten different ways, along with her own feelings. It wasn’t fair to Bucky to be stuck in this sort of limbo, but she and Steve didn’t want to let him go, either. She couldn’t imagine going back to life pre-Bucky. He belonged with them. 

She made sure to include him in everything she normally did with Steve, except the obvious. When they came home from missions, Bucky knew that there would be cuddle time. He’d tried to get out of it the first time, but apparently couldn’t bear to disappoint Darcy, so just did what was expected of him. And she knew that he enjoyed the cuddle time as much as she did, even though he’d never admit it.

Others were a little confused about it, apparently. 

“Is it weird, having him for a roommate?” Jane asked her one day, out of the blue. Jane hadn’t said much about the situation before, other than some awkward questions about Darcy’s safety. 

“Nope,” Darcy replied, snapping her gum as she did data entry. 

“He’s killed a lot of people,” Jane tried again. 

“Yep. So has Thor. So has Steve. And don’t even get me started on Clint and Natasha. S’funny. Hulk has probably killed less people than everyone else, but Bruce is the one everyone worries about.”

Jane blinked, momentarily derailed by Darcy’s out loud musing. Across the lab, Bruce Banner raised his shaggy head and offered a tremulous smile. “Thanks for putting it into perspective, Darcy,” he called softly. 

She winked. Bruce was as broken as Bucky, in his own way, and from the moment she had first met him, her goal was to get him to relax a little, and accept himself. This had endeared her to Tony immediately. Of course, Tony being Tony, he had immediately tried to push the two of them together, because ‘Brucie needs some action’, as he put it. Thankfully, Bruce had put an end to that right away. Bruce still had a soft spot in his heart for Betty Ross, and he couldn’t even consider other women. Especially not one that was almost half his age. 

“Has he killed a lot of people? Yes. In terrible ways? Yes. But of everyone I know, he’s the one with the least amount of responsibility in those acts. He was reprogrammed into a killing machine. They took away everything that he was, and put in what they wanted. I don’t hold Bucky responsible for any of that.” Darcy smiled at Jane’s dumbstruck look. “Do I worry that he’ll have a bad nightmare and wake up as that thing again? It’s already happened. He snaps out of it pretty quick, and since then, we had Jarvis installed to help us out if it happens again.”

Thor was visiting the lab, trying to pry Jane away from her science, but it was always a struggle. At least big, blond, and Godly was on her side. “I trust the captain’s judgment,” he told Jane. “Steven speaks only good things of his friend. And I do not believe he would endanger Darcy’s life.”

Darcy beamed at the Thunder God. “Thanks Thor. Bucky’s a good guy. He has a lot he needs to get over, cuz life handed him a big ‘ole bucket of shit, but he’s working with it. And besides, he saved my life. He broke Steve out of S.H.I.E.L.D’s custody so they could rescue me. Plus, he totally adores me, and I love surrounding myself with people who adore me.”

Tony Stark, in an unguarded moment when he was tinkering on a machine of Jane’s that needed fixed, expressed caution, but overall confidence.

“My dad talked about Barnes too. Not as often as Capsicle, of course, but usually Barnes’ name came up at some point. Barnes was a lot like my dad – a flirt, a womanizer. But he was way off his game after his time with Zola. Steve couldn’t beat the women off with a stick, but they avoided Barnes, or walked away from him. It was the eyes, my dad used to say. Barnes’ eyes had all of hell in them. He’d been taken to the edge and gone into the abyss. People usually don’t survive that, but Capsicle wouldn’t let him go, and pulled him back. Steve was the glue holding Barnes’ sanity together, and really the only reason Barnes could go on. When he fell…it was the thing that almost broke Capsicle.” Tony shrugged thoughtfully. “Barnes seems to be okay now, but just be smart around him, Lewis. If something triggers that assassin personality, get out of his way as fast as you can.”

Darcy could understand their concerns. She really could. But usually, she got to see the unshielded Bucky Barnes. The minute he was around anyone other than just her and Steve, his walls started coming up. He was tense and wary with everyone else, exactly what they expected him to be. With her and Steve, he was probably as close to Bucky Barnes as he would ever get. 

Jane and Thor were beginning to get a little too cozy when Darcy’s cell phone went off, playing Bucky’s ringtone of American Bad Ass. There was an incredulous bark of laughter from Stark over that, but Darcy ignored him and answered her phone.

“What up, Buck?”

“Meet me for lunch?” he asked plaintively. “Steve abandoned me.”

Since she had gotten a text from Steve a few minutes before, indicating he had a meeting with Fury and might be late getting home, Darcy wasn’t surprised.

“Lunch sounds good, Bucky. Meet me in the tower cafeteria?”

“Can I wear short sleeves and frighten off the weak hearted?”

It was good to hear him joking around. “Absolutely. Put on your sociopath face.”

He laughed, something he did more often now. “You got it, pumpkin. See ya in about 20, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Darcy didn’t hide her smirk when a wide area cleared around them in the cafeteria. Bucky was looking particularly menacing when they first sat down, but he lightened as Darcy chatted, even laughing over her crazy scientist stories several times. It made the people in the cafeteria look at Darcy differently. At first glance she seemed dismissible, but here she was having lunch with a sociopathic killer and making him laugh. 

“You’re doing wonders for my cafeteria rep, Barnes,” she told him with a grin.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “That was my plan, Darce. Anything to raise your cafeteria status.” He tossed a carrot stick at her. It was funny that he ate healthier than Steve. It never failed to amuse her, or Steve. Steve had speculated that it was because the Winter Soldier had been conditioned to be at his physical peak, and junk food had no place in that mindset. 

“So what do you do if Steve is in a meeting all day long?” Darcy was genuinely curious. S.H.I.E.L.D still wasn’t very big on the idea of Bucky being in their ranks, and he mainly stuck with Steve.

Bucky shrugged. “Barton and I are heading out on something after lunch. Won’t take long. Couple of hours.” 

Darcy was glad that Clint had sort of adopted Bucky. The archer had issues a mile long and then some, especially after Loki’s possession of his mind, but he could see when someone else had similar issues. He’d made a point of hanging out with Bucky when Steve couldn’t be around. She was very grateful for that, because Bucky still obviously felt somewhat adrift.

“The two of you together must give Fury nightmares,” she mused.

Bucky flashed a grin. “Anything I can do to help.”

He left her after lunch with a promise to be home before Steve. Darcy headed back to Jane’s lab area in bemusement. People were still watching her with wide eyes, and that was just funny. It was only when she was in the elevator with a couple of scientists that worked on their floor that another reason for people to be staring was brought to her attention.

She overheard very quiet speculation that she was a superhero groupie, and Darcy could understand that. After all, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner occasionally worked in Jane’s lab, and she did like to flirt with them. And of course, whenever Thor stopped by, she was always chummy with him too. But apparently, the crowning moment had come during Avengers business, when the team had trudged, dirty and weary, into Jane’s lab with some type of unknown tech for Jane, Stark and Banner to look at, and Darcy had thrown herself into Captain America’s arms and shamelessly smooched him. Now she had been having lunch with the man who’d been battling with Captain America on the news, so she was apparently trying to sell out the good Captain. 

Darcy was having a hard time not laughing in their faces, especially since they were whispering things just loudly enough for her to hear. She could work with it. It would be fun to play with them. 

Two hours later, Jarvis announced a S.H.I.E.L.D visitor to the lab. Darcy wasn’t sure who she was expecting, but it wasn’t anyone she recognized. An older man, classically handsome, with an impeccably tailored suit. Sort of like an older Phil Coulson. Except that this guy smiled openly, even if it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“Miss Lewis, I’m Alexander Pierce,” he greeted, offering a hand. Darcy shook it warily, which only seemed to amuse the man. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here,” he said, withdrawing his hand. Darcy didn’t miss that he absently wiped it on his pant leg. 

“I don’t usually get S.H.I.E.L.D visitors that I don’t know,” she confirmed. 

Pierce paced in a short line back and forth, hands clasped behind his back. “You are dating Captain Rogers,” he finally said. 

Darcy folded her arms across her chest. “That’s not a secret,” she told him. “S.H.I.E.L.D has known about that for quite some time. After all, the possibility of the captain tarnishing his good image during my kidnapping led to S.H.I.E.L.D trying to detain him again his will.” She bit back the ten other things she wanted to say and just stared up at the man.

Pierce acknowledged that with a nod. “We are…concerned. Obviously, Captain America is a symbol to the country, and should be above reproach.”

Darcy clenched her jaw, struggling against her mouth’s desperate need to say something, but she lost that fight. “I’m not dating Captain America,” she snapped. “I’m dating Steve Rogers.”

Pierce stared at her intimidatingly. “You were seen kissing Captain Rogers in this very facility.”

“And how do you know that?” she asked. 

The angry stomping of feet drew their attention. Tony Stark had just entered the lab. He didn’t look pleased. “I’d like to know the same thing,” he snapped. “This is a privately owned research lab that has no ties to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Pierce was icy all of a sudden. “You’re not that naïve, Stark. You have one Avenger working here, and the girlfriends of two other Avengers. Do you really think S.H.I.E.L.D isn’t going to keep tabs on that?” His sharp smile sent chills through Darcy’s very core. There was something off about this man, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. He seemed…stiff. Most S.H.I.E.L.D agents strove for the emotionless shell exterior, but they still looked normal. Everything about Pierce seemed…unyielding. 

“But I’m not here for you, Stark.” Pierce’s attention came back to Darcy. “Today, you were observed having lunch with the Winter Soldier.”

Warning bells went off in Darcy’s head. “There is no such person anymore,” she retorted. “I had lunch with my good friend Bucky.”

Piece didn’t even blink. “Given the rather volatile nature of the first meeting between Captain America and the Winter Soldier, kissing one of them and having lunch with the other raises questions about your intentions. It also casts a dubious light on Captain America, and S.H.I.E.L.D wishes to prevent that.”

Darcy was getting ready to give the man a piece of her mind, but Stark was way ahead of her. Coldly furious, he pointed toward the lab door. “Get out. S.H.I.E.L.D has no place here, and no say in the private lives of the Avengers.”

She was surprised when Pierce didn’t attempt to stay and fight. He looked at them both measuringly, then turned and departed. 

Tony Stark was very angry. “Jarvis – notify me if he deviates from exiting the building.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Sweep the building for bugs.”

“Already working on that, sir. I’ve also begun to review the histories of every employee in this building for ties to S.H.I.E.L.D.”

Stark’s smile was a bit manic. “Make a building-wide announcement. Anyone who is secretly in S.H.I.E.L.D’s pocket can resign now, and it will only be noted as ‘resigned without notice’. If I have to fire anyone, they’ll be labeled as a corporate spy.” He tapped his chin. “Notify Capsicle and tell him to get his ass here as soon as possible.”

Darcy’s head was spinning. She didn’t often see this side of Tony Stark. Usually it was just the manic billionaire or genius engineer that she saw. “He’s meeting with Fury all day,” she ventured. 

Stark grinned hard. “Good. Fury should know about this. I am not pleased. Jarvis! Send an official notice to S.H.I.E.L.D. that I am not pleased.”

“Very good, sir. Captain Rogers is on his way. Shall I notify Sergeant Barnes as well?”

“Yes,” Darcy answered quickly. She was a little shaken that even Stark’s tower had been compromised. If S.H.I.E.L.D observers were in the tower, both her and Jane were in possible danger. She didn’t want to think that Fury had anything to do with spies in the tower, but it was likely he did. She wasn’t worried about that so much as she was worried about any of those spies working for the person who had had her kidnapped. The person who wanted to take Bucky and remake him into the Winter Soldier. “Bucky’s out with Barton this afternoon,” she ventured.

Stark seemed to think of it at the same time she did. “Jarvis, notify Barnes and Barton. Tell them to watch their backs, more than usual, and to get back here, if they can.”

“Director Fury has already ordered them recalled, sir.”

Stark flashed a brittle smile. “And it might be prudent to get Thor down to the lab area.”

“He is already on his way, sir.”

Darcy uttered a slightly hysterical laugh. “S.H.I.E.L.D has no idea what can of worms they just opened.”

Bruce Banner and Jane Foster approached slowly. Banner was breathing a little faster than normal, and Darcy hoped that Hulk would not make an unexpected appearance. Banner had gotten pretty good at controlling the rage beast side of himself, but if Hulk broke out instead of being let out, she wasn’t sure what would happen. 

Seeing Thor barge into the lab in a tee shirt and boxer shorts, hammer in hand, sort of broke the tension of the moment, and they all had a good laugh. Thor just stood there, looking slightly confused but ready for action. 

Stark wiped at his eyes. “Geez Point Break. Put some clothes on next time.”

Thor scanned the lab, and allowed the hammer to droop toward the floor as he relaxed. “I did, Man of Iron. It would not be prudent to run through the building wearing no clothing.”

Darcy felt better already. Stark was pacing angrily, barking orders out to Jarvis as he thought of them, mostly related to keeping S.H.I.E.L.D out of his research labs. How Pierce had gotten there seemed to be a mystery. Jarvis had no records of the man entering the building, until he was walking into the lab area – which required a Stark Industries identification badge to access. This made Stark nearly crazy.

Then, there were Jarvis’s observations. “There was something…wrong…with Mr. Pierce, sir.”

“Wrong how?” the billionaire snapped.

“I am unable to formulate an answer, sir. The scans I was able to make on the man are inconclusive.”

Tony Stark cocked his head in inquiry. “Inconclusive how, Jarvis? What was different about him?”

“I do not have a theory, sir.”

Stark was not happy. “Don’t get buggy on me, Jarvis. Not now.”

“I am functioning normally, sir.”

“If you’re functioning normally, why was a S.H.I.E.L.D suited asshole able to walk into my building and then my research lab without a badge, and no record of his trip through the building? Why can’t you tell me what is wrong with him?”

“I have no answers for those questions, sir.”

The inability of his AI to provide answers seemed to rattle Stark like nothing else. He ordered everyone out of the building except Erik Selvig, Avengers, and their girlfriends. Darcy could practically hear the scream of outrage from Pepper Potts now. She had met Tony’s significant other only once, but had been impressed with Pepper’s no-nonsense take-charge attitude. Pepper had two focuses in her life – Tony and Stark Industries. When Tony started messing around with the company, it always agitated her. 

Darcy paced, as agitated as Stark but in her own way. She felt off balance and scared, and wanted Steve and Bucky there so she could feel safe. S.H.I.E.L.D wasn’t supposed to be the cause of fear in the good guys, but this was twice now that they had done so. Of course, bad seeds could crop up anywhere. S.H.I.E.L.D was no exception, but given the resources they could command, it was very frightening to think that someone could put those resources to use for their own purpose.

When Jarvis announced that Steve had arrived with Fury, she felt a burgeoning sense of relief. The woosh of the lab doors opening lifted her mood considerably, and she darted across the lab to throw herself into Steve’s arms. 

He squeezed her tightly. Pressed against his warm heat, feeling his heart beating against her cheek, Darcy felt relief. After a moment, she drew back and smiled up at her hero. 

“I’m a devious slut,” she confessed, eyes dancing.

Steve blinked at her, with the hint of a frown. “Uh…”

“I’m beguiling you with my ample feminine charms, while conspiring with the Winter Soldier to bring about your downfall,” she told him.

Stark provided a quick summary, in short choppy sentences. He was still angry, arms and hands waving in agitation. Darcy could feel Steve tensing as Stark described Pierce’s visit, and their subsequent discoveries about him and S.H.I.E.L.D. 

They turned to Fury. He looked almost as angry as Stark. “Of course I had people here,” he admitted. “It was a necessity. But those people report to me. The kissing incident was reported and filed. I haven’t even seen the lunch report yet.” He clenched both fists. “Pierce has been…flexing his muscles for several months now.”

“Can you explain to me how he avoided Jarvis’s monitoring until he got to this floor?” Stark snapped. “There is no record of him until he stepped out of the elevator on this floor.”

Fury looked surprised. Either he was the best actor ever, or Pierce had access to tech that Fury didn’t know about. Darcy watched him carefully, trying to see any point where he started manipulating them. But she didn’t see anything as Fury and Stark got involved in a heated discussion about Pierce, including Jarvis’s observations that something about Pierce was wrong. 

After quite some time, Fury glanced around, seeming to realize the amount of time that had passed. “Where the hell are Barton and Barnes? They should have been here by now.”

The sick feeling in Darcy’s stomach was echoed on Steve’s face when she looked up at him. He already had his cell phone out, calling, sharing a worried look with Darcy. “C’mon Buck. Answer the phone.”

Behind them, Tony Stark muttered something that sounded like ‘amateurs’. “Jarvis? Can you locate Barnes and Barton?”

Darcy heard the beep as Bucky’s phone went to voicemail. She clenched her fingers tight on Steve’s left arm. This was getting a little too tense. Steve apparently felt the same way, because his hand tightened around the cell phone until it cracked and then shattered. They were thinking the same thing, she could tell. Pierce had been a distraction so Bucky could be grabbed.

She pulled her cell phone out and texted Bucky. And waited. 

Jarvis located them, announcing their location in his clinical voice, and calmly asking Stark if he should attempt to contact Agent Barton. Tony gave the okay, and Jarvis went silent for a few minutes, before he reported that there was no answer. 

Tony was heading toward the lab door when Jarvis spoke again. “Sir, Agent Romanoff is calling on the Ultra Super-Secret Avengers line.”

Fury’s bark of incredulous laughter echoed Darcy’s own as they all stared at Stark. He flushed a little at their perusal. “Put her through, Jarvis.”

“Stark.” Natasha’s voice was whispered, taut and aggravated. “They’re fine. Tell your group to stop trying to call, because every time you do, it gives away our position.”

“Natasha. Report.” Fury was grim, scowling furiously.

“They were already compromised when I reached them,” she hissed. “There are a lot of misguided S.H.I.E.L.D agents here. We’re trying not to kill people.”

Fury swore, loud and creatively. “Can you hold your position for an extended length of time?”

“Of course.” 

“Do so. I’m sending non-lethal backup.” Fury pulled out his own phone. “Coulson. Since you happen to be in the area, take your team and go to Barton’s current position. There are agents there who are getting orders from someone else. Bogus orders. Take charge of the situation, and take those agents into custody, pending an eval.”

Stark looked torn. “I should go…to make sure…”

Fury shook his head. “Stark, you need to keep your ass right here. Coulson is more than capable of stepping in and defusing the situation. If you go, there will be shooting, and people will get hurt.”

Thor apparently decided that he was a better option than Stark because he started heading for the lab door. Jane Foster had latched onto his arm, but Thor was an unstoppable force, and Jane’s feet were actually dangling in the air. 

Steve saw it. “Thor! Stand down! S.H.I.E.L.D’s going to handle their own mess. It’s not the fault of those agents that they’re getting bad orders.”

Thor growled, actually growled, but came to a fault. It gave Jane the opportunity to soundly berate him, and Darcy heaved a sigh of relief. Thor could be as bad as Stark, and from the sounds of it, that was the last thing that was needed. She just wanted Bucky back safely. Undamaged, unaltered. 

Steve slid his hand into hers, squeezing for comfort. He looked as worried as she felt. Or more. Darcy was a little surprised that he wasn’t going all caveman and rushing out to save Bucky. Based on the twitching muscles she could feel at her side, he really wanted to and was showing remarkable self-restraint in staying where he was. 

“Whoever this person is, they don’t have very well thought out plans.” Bruce Banner was tapping his chin thoughtfully. Darcy gave him her full attention, because Bruce didn’t speak without purpose. “It starts out with a lot of misdirection, but then devolves into a straight head on assault. And this person never seems to calculate for teamwork.”

Steve nodded. “It’s almost as if he or she doesn’t expect others to come to Bucky’s assistance. It’s a failing, but I’m grateful for it.” His hands clenched and unclenched nervously. “Darcy said whoever is giving the orders is someone from my past. Deep past. That’s fairly limited. Someone calling themselves ‘Zola’ sent the Winter Soldier after me. Unless the Zola that I knew was frozen, he’d be long dead. So, I’m guessing a descendent maybe, probably the same person.”

Fury sighed. “Coulson’s team has been looking into it, more from the ‘Zola’ angle than the more recent one. They haven’t found anything yet.”

Stark snapped his fingers. “Jarvis! Go after anything you can find on this ‘Zola’. Exclude anything that S.H.I.E.L.D already knows.”

Darcy bit back a laugh when Fury folded his arms across his chest and glared at the billionaire. “Stark, I know you don’t still have completely illegal access to S.H.I.E.L.D files.”

“Of course I don’t.” Tony flashed a cocky smile. “Just like you don’t have S.H.I.E.L.D agents employed in this building.”

Fury fell silent. There wasn’t really much he could say to that. 

Then it was just waiting. Darcy hated waiting. It really sucked. She was imagining all kinds of terrible things, but Bucky was with Barton and Natasha, so he would be fine. They wouldn’t let anything happen to him. 

Jarvis actually sounded relieved several hours later when he announced that Barton, Romanoff and Barnes had arrived. Everyone had adjourned to the penthouse to get comfortable. Darcy had been shocked to see broken holes in the floor, until Bruce had explained that they were from Hulk bashing Thor’s brother Loki into the floor, and Tony refused to have them repaired. He was adorably red-faced when explaining it. 

Darcy was sprawled on a leather sofa with Steve, trying to keep from sliding off of it. When Jarvis made his announcement, Steve jumped to his feet and Darcy slithered gracelessly to the floor. She jumped up and glared at her boyfriend, but then turned toward the elevator to wait. Steve was twitching again. It was driving him crazy to just wait. 

When the elevator opened, Darcy rose up on her toes, bouncing a little in her need to see Bucky safe. He followed Natasha out of the elevator, with Clint bringing up the rear. Bucky was dirty and a little banged up, she could see, and he was very angry. The arm had scrape marks and scorch marks on it, and Darcy couldn’t even imagine what could have happened to have caused those marks. 

Bucky came to a dead halt when he saw Fury. Several emotions fluttered across his face – regret, anger, and finally a boiling frustration that threatened to spill over onto everyone around him. “Some of your agents need retraining,” he finally snapped at Fury. “Or at least need to review intel before they attempt to bring someone in.”

Fury watched him warily, probably remembering the last time he had faced Bucky. It hadn’t ended well for him. “Why is that?” he finally asked. 

Bucky waved the metal arm at him. “Using a magnetic retractable grappling hook on the arm – brilliant idea. Having one agent holding onto it – stupid and careless.”

Darcy could picture it in her head. The hook grabbed his arm and began to drag him out into the open. All Bucky had to do was regain his feet, grab onto the line, and pull with the metal arm, which was much stronger than one man. That’s probably where he’d picked up the dirt and scrapes and bruises she could see. 

She finally could contain herself no longer, and crossed the room to throw her arms around Bucky. He made a surprised noise at first, then gently encircled her with his arms. The crushing, almost suffocating press of another body against her back told her that Steve had followed her, and had them both wrapped in his arms. 

“Ya gotta stop scaring me, Buck,” he said, voice rough. 

“Me too,” Darcy chimed in. “I fart when I worry.” Oops. That was…not supposed to come out of her mouth. 

Bucky laughed, which broke the tension a little, and then everyone was talking at once. Stark was getting information from Clint and Natasha, Fury was jumping in occasionally with his own observations, and Steve and Darcy just kept quietly berating Bucky for scaring them.

Stark finally noticed that they hadn’t separated yet. Darcy still had her arms around Bucky, and Steve had his around both of them. “Geez you guys…get a room. On second thought, let me watch. I’m always up for watching a threesome.”

Darcy and Bucky flipped him off, while Steve drew back with a red face. Darcy bit her lip at the implications of what Stark had said. Was this what they’d been dancing around since Bucky had come back? It was like a light bulb went off inside her mind. They couldn’t do without him, nor him without them, but…

Absently, she stretched up to place a kiss on Bucky’s dirty cheek. “You’re filthy,” she told him, squeezing him tight once more. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.” 

Bucky nodded, and she finally stepped back and released him. Fury made a token argument because he wanted to debrief Bucky, but Clint and Natasha didn’t feel that was necessary. Stark protested, because he wanted to continue watching the three of them be all touchy with each other, or so he said. 

Darcy stuck her tongue out at the billionaire, said a hasty goodbye to Thor, Jane and Bruce, said a quick hello/goodbye to Clint and Natasha, and then herded Steve and Bucky to the elevator. She and Steve had toyed with the idea of staying at the tower, but it didn’t seem to be secure right now, and Pierce obviously had ways around Jarvis. So they just decided to go home, and followed the usual routine, splitting up and doing everything they could to lose any tails. As far as they knew, S.H.I.E.L.D still didn’t know where they lived. 

Once all three were safely home, and hadn’t that caused some worry until Bucky walked in the door, Bucky headed for the bathroom to shower. He really was very filthy. Darcy snuggled into bed and Steve joined her. He was calm and mostly relaxed again. 

“Steve?” she ventured.

“Yes?” He bent his head to kiss the top of hers.

“I have this crazy, wild idea.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So…I know I’ve made everyone wait a tortuously long time for this, but it’s finally here! The coming together! Thank Tony Stark for the offhand comment that connected the dots (for Darcy at least). 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me! I hope you enjoy this, and that it’s worth the wait. There’s some smut, but I’ve tried to keep it tasteful and not too graphic. 
> 
> This is not the last chapter of this story arc! Still have some plot to wrap up!

Steve and Darcy were both acting weird since Alexander Pierce had dropped in at Stark Tower. 

Granted, the man had freaked out Tony Stark with his ability to evade Jarvis’s detection. And both Jarvis and Darcy had insisted that the man was ‘wrong’ but they couldn’t explain how. Darcy’s best description was that Pierce was ‘stiff and unyielding, but not in a natural way.’ Strangely enough, Jarvis concurred. The AI was unable to come up with a better explanation.

Jarvis had supposedly recorded images of the man when he first appeared to the AI’s sensors, but those images were corrupted beyond repair. It was driving Stark crazy, since it was compromising the AI’s ability to run further scans. 

Bucky almost couldn’t understand or believe it. All of sudden, he was up to his ears in Avengers business. The other half of the Avengers, the half he hadn’t spent any time with, was suddenly right there. He had way too much interaction with Stark, which was enough to make anyone drink. Bruce Banner became a kindred soul because he understood about having a monster inside that could break out. Thor was…Thor was an alien prince, which really blew Bucky’s mind when he finally figured out Darcy wasn’t joking about it. 

If that wasn’t strange enough, Steve and Darcy were just being weird. Bucky was beginning to feel like a prime piece of meat with the way Darcy was looking at him lately, and Steve just kept watching him, like he was going to be snatched right out from under his nose. It was weird. He heard them having intense discussions at night. He didn’t know what those discussions were about, but had the funny feeling that his name came up more than once. 

It seemed like the second attempt to snatch him had rattled them both, and their continuing weirdness was making him a little on edge.

He took advantage of Steve’s rescheduled meeting with Fury several days later to head out on his own, aiming to find a willing dame and relieve some stress. It was building to an intolerable level and he didn’t want to start snapping at Darcy or Steve.

When he texted Darcy to let her know he was going out, her response was immediate. She called him back, and Bucky answered with surprise. 

“Hey pumpkin, what’s up?”

“Don’t go out!” she almost shouted. “Geez, Barnes! There is someone out there who wants to kidnap you and reprogram you back into an unquestioning assassin. You might as well hang a sign around your neck that says ‘Free for the taking!’ What’s in your head?”

Bucky blinked. She sounded upset, and almost frantic. “Pumpkin, I’ll be careful. I just…I need to blow off some steam.”

“Remember what happened last time, Barnes? Do you really want to go through that again?”

No, he didn’t. But he’d thought about how to defuse the situation ahead of time, and he wanted to try it out. He needed to do something!

“I’m going, Darcy. I’ll see ya later. Hopefully not until tomorrow.”

He ended the call, and when it rang back right away, he turned the phone off. He could take care of himself. 

He found a bar, smoky and anonymous, and went inside. After a frustrating hour of finding nothing but over-painted and plastic looking women who couldn’t hold one single conversation that was even remotely interesting, Bucky hit the street again, looking for another place. 

He tried two other bars. There were a few interesting prospects at the second one, but as soon as he mentioned the ‘prosthetic’ arm, excuses were made. He figured it was better to warn women ahead of time, rather than have them freak out when the shirt came off. But he wasn’t having much luck with that either. As soon as he said something about the arm, it was like he was damaged goods. 

Tired, smelling of cigarette smoke and booze, Bucky gave up. He was cursed. That was the only explanation that made sense. It was payback for his loose ways before the fall, before the war. He idly wondered if Tessa would be willing to help him out again. She had been kind and peaceful and accepting. And he really needed to let off some steam. 

He didn’t bother turning his phone on to notify Darcy or Steve that he was coming home. They would figure it out when he got there. Bucky wasn’t sure if he wanted to deal with the sympathetic glances, so he’d probably just lock himself in his room. Maybe he’d check with Barton. See if the archer would be his ‘wingman’ for a future trip out.

He was so bummed that he didn’t even want to bother with the subway, so he flagged down a cab. It was a shameless waste of money, but he had plenty of it. S.H.I.E.L.D had coughed up a ridiculous amount of money when he started working with Steve, citing back pay and hazard pay. Bucky hadn’t really cared, but both Steve and Darcy had strongly suggested he accept it and bank it. So he had. Then Darcy had introduced him to the wonders of debit cards. No one carried cash anymore. Or at least, not as much as they used to. It was easier to use the card. 

The cab driver kept glancing in the rearview mirror, and Bucky figured he probably recognized him from the news. But he was surprised when the driver spoke.

“You look like a man with heavy thoughts,” he called in a heavily accented voice. 

Bucky sighed. “Trying to find my place in the world, but it seems like the universe is against me.”

“Ah.” The cabbie nodded. “This usually means you are straying from the path meant for you. There is something you are fighting against, and when you try to do something counter to it, bad things happen.”

Bucky smiled in surprised delight. This guy was better than a fortune cookie. “That’s probably it. But I’m not quite sure what I’m fighting against.”

The cab driver nodded wisely. “It is buried deep within. Accept your feelings.”

Bucky was still bemused when they pulled up to the apartment building. Training took over, and he quickly surveyed the area while pulling cash out of his wallet. He gave the cab driver a generous tip. After all, the man had sage, if somewhat vague, advice. 

He took the stairs up to their apartment. After the almost disastrous episode in the elevator with Barton and Natasha, he figured it was safer just to take the stairs. Plus, it was good exercise. He usually jogged the whole way up without even breathing hard. 

He heard the faint sound of the television as he pushed open the door, which meant that Darcy was probably already crashed out on the sofa. If Steve was home, he’d be there with her. Bucky shut and locked the door, and headed toward the living room, just to let them know he was home. It was surprising that neither one had called a greeting, but then again, they weren’t expecting him to be home. 

As he stepped into the living room, his eyes went to the sofa. Bucky’s greeting died on his lips. They weren’t missing him or worried about him at the moment, his stunned mind realized. 

There was so much skin. Golden muscles and pale curves. Muscles flexing with small, intense movements. Eager breathless noises. Bucky froze, unable to tear his eyes away, yet knowing that this was the worst possible thing he could be seeing for his own sanity’s sake. Not seeing things was acceptable, but this? This was what he didn’t want to see. 

Soldier instincts or super soldier hearing finally caught up to Steve apparently. He turned his head, looking over his shoulder in complete dismay, taking in Bucky’s stunned expression. Darcy’s face appeared over Steve’s other shoulder, mouth open in shock. When her expression morphed into sympathy, it finally broke Bucky out of his stunned perving. He closed his eyes and backed away.

“Taking a shower,” he called gruffly, practically running to the bathroom and locking the door firmly. He leaned against it for a moment, breathing heavily, before straightening and stripping off his clothes. The water, turned as hot as he could handle, felt like a thousand needles on his skin when he stepped under it.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get the image out of his head: Steve, hovering over Darcy, face buried in her neck. Her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him into her firmly. Shit. God. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the image was burned into his head. He had to get some action. Even if he had to pay for it at this point. He didn’t really care.

A change in air pressure and the gentle flutter of the shower curtain warned him that he was no longer alone. Apparently, a locked bathroom door wasn’t enough of a hint to keep out. Bucky exhaled in frustration. He didn’t want to deal with Steve’s stuttered apology right now. 

“Not now, punk,” he growled, pressing his forehead to the shower wall. It was cool on his overheated skin and felt good. Steve didn’t say anything, but he didn’t leave the bathroom either, so apparently the captain was going to wait for Bucky to finish showering. Well, he could damn well wait for a while then. 

Bucky took his time, washing thoroughly, just prolonging the moment when Steve would try to make an awkward apology. He wasn’t in the mood. Steve shouldn’t feel the need to apologize for doing whatever he wanted to. Of course, Steve knew how uncomfortable it made him, the whole Steve and Darcy thing, but Bucky didn’t feel that Steve should need to apologize for it. Good for him for getting some action.

Finally though, the hot water ran out. Bucky turned off the water and used his real hand like a squeegee, sluicing the extra water off his body. His skin felt too tight again, and hypersensitive. Well, a good bout in the sack would help cure that. Maybe he could get rid of the images in his head then. Maybe. 

Finally, he was as dry as he was going to get while still standing in the shower stall. Steve hadn’t left yet, and Bucky was starting to feel seriously annoyed. Oh well. He yanked the shower curtain open and froze. It wasn’t Steve waiting for him. For a few seconds, he couldn’t move, staring silently at Darcy. She was perched on the vanity, staring silently back at him, eyes practically throwing him to the floor as they raked over him. She had pulled on a tee shirt and shorts, but quite obviously no underwear. He could see the hard nubs of her nipples pressed against the shirt, and the shorts were loose enough and short enough for him to see that she wasn’t wearing panties.

“Shit Darce. What the hell?” he yelped, finally snapping out of it and yanking the shower curtain shut. He wasn’t cowering behind it. He wasn’t. Not conflicted as hell and hard enough to hammer nails through a board. Not. 

She snorted. “I wouldn’t have expected you to be body shy, Barnes.”

“I’m not fucking body shy,” he corrected testily. “But I’m also not in the habit of swinging my stuff in front of my best friend’s girl. You need to get out of here.”

“Why?” she returned, with a perky lilt to her voice that he resented a lot. She had to have seen that parts of him were standing at attention. It wasn’t nice to tease like that. 

“Pumpkin…you need to go.”

“Nope! I let you chase me off once. Not gonna happen again.”

Bucky groaned in frustration. “Now’s not the time, Darce. Where the hell is Steve? Why isn’t he sitting on you, or something?”

“He was, Bucky. But then you walked in and kinda killed the moment.” The laughter in her voice was almost like a slap in the face. 

He turned and thunked his forehead into the shower wall solidly. Maybe if he reset his brain, this weirdness wouldn’t be happening. And Darcy, his best friend’s girl, wouldn’t be flirting with him while he was naked, hiding in the shower.

Her vibrant laugh was just mean in this situation. “Are you coming out of there, Barnes, or do I have to come in after you?”

She wouldn’t. Would she? “What the hell are you doing, Darce?” he hissed. And where the hell was Steve?

“I’m trying to seduce you, you ass. But you’re making it very difficult.”

Seduce him? Bucky reeled. What the hell was going on? “Darcy. You’re Steve’s girl.”

“We share everything else,” Steve’s voice suggested softly. 

Bucky slowly peeled one edge of the shower curtain back to peer out into the bathroom. Steve was standing beside the vanity, one hand on Darcy’s leg. He was wearing a loose pair of boxers. They were both just looking at him. Warm looks. Looks that had heat coiling in his stomach, and whatever blood was left in his body rushing south. 

No. He didn’t need sexual handouts now too. Bucky pulled back, shaking his head. “No. Thanks for the offer, but I can find my own good times.”

“Yeah, that’s worked out so well for you.” Steve’s voice was a touch…irritated. “Don’t be an ass, Buck. We don’t work without you with us. This is just the next logical step.”

He would expect that line of reasoning from Darcy, not Steve. “The next logical step? Sharing Darcy? How is that logical?” Where the hell was Steve’s head? The good captain, suggesting sharing a woman?

He heard the footsteps approaching. Darcy was making good on her threat to come in after him, apparently. Bucky was not cowering in the corner of the shower stall like some blushing virgin. He wasn’t. And when the shower curtain was pulled open by Steve instead of Darcy, he felt his mouth fall open in disbelief or relief. He wasn’t sure which one.

Steve held his hand out. “We don’t want you to be unhappy, Buck.”

Darcy hopped off the vanity and slid over to Steve’s side. “And we know you have been, anytime we do anything couple-y. Like Steve said, we don’t work without you. To keep you as a platonic member of our little group just isn’t fair to you.” Her eyes dropped down over his front, and a mischievous smirk pulled at her lips. “Besides, that looks really painful. I want to help you.”

Bucky had never felt so exposed in his life, with two sets of eyes raking over him. Unlike anyone else recently, their eyes weren’t stuck on his metal arm. And suddenly, all his reasons for refusing seemed silly. Standing right in front of him was the acceptance and love he craved. That he already had. He wouldn’t have to worry about them freaking out and calling the cops on him. 

It must have been apparent in his expression, because Darcy stepped forward and reached out, taking his metal hand in hers. Steve claimed his real hand, and they both pulled gently. Bucky’s legs were a little shaky as he stepped out of the shower stall. Standing between them, it was all a little too real. He swayed, eyes darting from one to the other. 

Darcy laughed softly, and reached up with her free hand, curling it around the back of his neck. “You look like you’re about to run or faint, Barnes.”

“I feel like both,” he admitted, allowing her to pull his head down. 

She stretched up, until her lips were barely an inch from his. “That would be a shame,” she whispered, breath puffing softly against his mouth. 

Bucky groaned quietly. “You’re killing me, pumpkin.”

She stepped forward a half step, enough that she was pressed gently against his painfully hard erection. Her eyes were laughing at him, but somehow, kissing her felt like it would be some type of betrayal of Steve. Even though Steve was right there, Bucky couldn’t make himself move the necessary half inch to bring his mouth to Darcy’s.

Until Steve pinched his arm, hard. “What are you waiting for, idiot? Kiss her.” 

Bucky exhaled in relief, swaying forward to press his mouth to Darcy’s. It felt like coming home. He’d been wanting to kiss that mouth for longer than he was willing to admit, and it was heady. He could honestly say it was the first kiss in his life to have feelings behind it. 

She chuffed softly against his mouth, nibbling on his bottom lip and swiping her tongue along the top. The hand that was curled around his neck tugged softly on his hair, pulling a groan from Bucky’s mouth. Darcy took advantage of the open mouth to swipe her tongue inside, and Bucky shuddered. Still, he didn’t miss the other hand that was stroking his shoulder. That hand was large and warm, and surprisingly very welcome.

Darcy, with another chuff against his mouth, swiveled her hips against him. Bucky almost fell. It felt too good, even that tiny little bit of stimulation, and he realized he wasn’t going to last long at all. Darcy seemed to realize the same thing. She bit his lip and then pulled back so she could look at his eyes. “Let’s take the edge off,” she suggested with a throaty laugh. Bucky nodded numbly, and before he could even wonder what she meant, she rocked forward against him once, twice, and that was all it took for him to be shuddering through a hasty release.

Thankfully, Steve was there to support him as his knees buckled. Bucky leaned on him gratefully, and laughed softly when he thought about what this must look like. He was naked and still wet, both of his hands being held, with Darcy practically still glued to his front. She was frowning down at her clothes.

“You made a mess of my clothes,” she accused. 

Bucky laughed again, weakly. “Totally your fault, pumpkin.”

She smirked up at him. “Yeah. C’mon Barnes. Let’s take this to a bed. I imagine there’s more where that came from, if your refresh rate is anything like Steve’s.”

Bucky flushed, and looked up to meet Steve’s eyes. “Uh…can’t say what Steve’s refresh is like, but mine is kinda quick.”

Darcy bit her lip. “I’m the luckiest and most selfish bitch on the planet.” She stepped back, eyes glinting, and promptly stripped out of her clothing. 

Bucky’s mouth went dry. He must have lost all ability to be smooth, because the only thing he could do right now was stare. Darcy was all lush curves and pale skin, and just the thought that she was offering all that to him (to share with Steve) just floored him.

“I don’t care if you’re the most selfish bitch on the planet,” he told her. “You’re beautiful.”

She ducked her head, hair falling forward to obscure her face. “Flatterer.” 

Steve poked him in the chest. “Can you walk?” He was still supporting Bucky’s weight. 

Bucky straightened, finding his legs agreeable with supporting him again. “Yeah.” His voice was a little hoarse. They weren’t really all going to fall into a bed together, were they? That would be Stark’s wet dream probably, but Bucky couldn’t imagine that it was Steve’s. 

And Steve, ever observant, saw something on his face. “Give us a minute, Darce. Go ahead. We’ll catch up.”

She grinned cheekily, rose up to plant another soul stealing kiss on Bucky’s mouth, then pulled back and sauntered out of the bathroom, hips swaying. Bucky couldn’t pull his eyes away from that sight until it disappeared. Then he blinked a few times, and looked up to meet Steve’s eyes. 

“Uh…”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Darcy and I have talked about this a lot, since Stark made his comment the other day.” He flushed a little. “In our time, this type of thing, even thinking about it meant that you were a pervert of the highest order. But…the world has changed.”

The idea of Steve having this conversation with him was short circuiting Bucky’s brain. Especially considering that he had been the one to have all the experience, back in the day. But a lot of things had changed. 

Bucky nodded dumbly. “I…just…this is unexpected.”

Steve finally released his hand and moved a little closer to him. “How long have you been in love with her?”

“What?” Bucky tried to back away, but there was nowhere to go, unless he stepped back into the shower. 

Steve grabbed his wrist, eyes boring into his. “You think we didn’t know that? How long?”

Bucky wilted. “Since the first day. When she faced down a broken wild man, lost inside his own head, and offered him coffee because he looked like he needed a friend.” His eyes dropped to the floor. He didn’t want to see Steve’s reaction to that, to how long he’d been harboring those secret feelings for Darcy. It had seemed like such a betrayal of their friendship, even if he would never act on those feelings. 

The hand on his wrist squeezed. “I’m sorry. I know it was hell for you, and that’s why you didn’t want to be around us anymore.”

Bucky shook his head, still staring at the floor. “It was wrong, Steve. You don’t…you don’t fall for your best friend’s girl.”

“Can’t help what you feel, Buck. And it would have only been wrong if you had tried to steal her away from me.” Steve uttered a laugh. “S’funny how things turn out.” He pulled Bucky’s hand down to the front of his shorts, ignoring Bucky’s strangled cry. “It’s not just for Darcy,” he assured. 

Bucky could feel Steve’s straining erection through his shorts, and if this wasn’t the strangest conversation he’d ever had with his best friend, he didn’t know what was. But, if he was honest with himself, because that seemed to be the best course of action right now, he’d loved Steve for a long time. Only…well…it wasn’t natural. 

He must have said that out loud, because Steve smacked the back of his head. Bucky looked up, eyes gliding up the length of Steve’s body, having a moment where he marveled at the physical changes his friend had been forced through, to meet Steve’s eyes. They were warm and welcoming.

“Did you know that, in nature, animals quite commonly form same sex pairings, or mixed gender threesomes?”

“Huh?”

Steve laughed, pressing forward a little into Bucky’s hand. “Darcy told me that, when she was trying to break past my old time hangups. She said ‘if it happens in nature, how can it be unnatural?’ She’s very convincing. But I guess ultimately, it comes down to how I feel. How you feel. I love you. I’ve loved you forever, and when I thought you were gone, it destroyed me.”

Bucky swayed, feeling the burn of tears in his eyes. He remembered what he felt, what he thought, as he dropped into an icy abyss. His only thoughts were of Steve. Knowing how Steve would react to his death, worry that Steve would burn himself out because he didn’t know when to take time for himself, and a small touch of relief that he wouldn’t have to live through Steve drawing away from him to get wrapped up in Peggy. 

“Punk, I’ve always loved you,” he assured, eyes fixed on Steve’s face. On his mouth. Would it be weird…? “Can I…can I kiss you?”

Steve twitched, lips curling up in a bemused smile. “Wow. What’s the thing that Stark always says? ‘Shit just got real’. Think that applies here?”

He talked too much. Bucky leaned forward, giving him plenty of time to pull away, but Steve only watched him with eyes that were darkening with arousal. The first brush of their mouths was tentative. After all, it was weird to be kissing your best friend like that. But the electric thrill that sparked out from that brief contact was enough to wash away that weirdness. Steve fisted a hand in Bucky’s hair and pulled his mouth back to his. It was the second kiss in his lifetime that had feelings behind it. And really, it wasn’t unnatural at all.

He was getting lost in the moment, exploring Steve’s mouth, closing his eyes and just feeling, when a voice broke into his hazy bubble of arousal.

“I’m getting cold! I’m naked, all alone on this big bed! Is there something more interesting in the bathroom?”

Bucky pulled away with a chuckle, mouth still tingling. Steve’s eyes, so dark they were almost black at this point, promised that they would do that again. “We should go,” he suggested huskily. “She gets whiny if you don’t pay attention to her when she wants it.”

He turned and left the bathroom. Bucky took a second to take a few deep breaths, and then followed. He felt lighter, liberated almost, now that he had confessed his feelings. 

Darcy was indeed naked on the big bed in her and Steve’s room, one hand stroking lazily between her legs, and the other caressing her breasts. Bucky was transfixed by that sight, and walked straight into the doorframe, stubbing his toe. 

“Ouch, dammit,” he swore, shaking his foot and gripping the door frame for support. 

Darcy’s throaty laugh mocked him. “See something you like, Barnes?”

He shook his head with a wry smile. “See something I’ve liked since I first saw it, pumpkin.”

Darcy bit her lip. “He’s so nice, Steve. You told me he was a playboy.”

Bucky watched Steve crawl onto the bed and kiss her. “He was a playboy. But I think he’s finally matured a little.”

“Ouch, Steve.”

Bucky finally pushed away from the doorframe and made his way across the room to the bed. There wasn’t going to be a lot of room. If…if this was a permanent thing, they’d need a bigger bed. 

Steve flipped over onto his back and leaned his head in against Darcy’s so they could both look up at him. “He looks like he’s thinking heavy thoughts,” Darcy noted, with an impish little grin. “Why is he thinking heavy thoughts right now?” Her eyes flicked down to Bucky’s groin, and her grin only grew. “Wow…how is he capable of heavy thoughts right now?”

Bucky threw his head back and laughed. She was utterly ridiculous and completely charming at the same time. “Pumpkin…you talk too much.”

She sat up abruptly, surprising him, and her hand darted out to wrap around the part of him she’d just been oogling. “Shut it, Barnes, and get your ass down on this bed.”

Bucky exhaled shakily. “Uh…” He allowed himself to be tugged down on the bed so that he was stretched out at her side. Darcy released him then, and her fingers walked themselves up his stomach, stopping for a quick tweak of his nipple, and then cupped his chin and turned his head to bring his mouth to hers. 

“You were kissing Steve, weren’t you?” she accused softly, lips moving against his. 

Bucky couldn’t really think very clearly, especially when she turned up on her side to face him, and Steve propped himself up to watch. “Uh…yes. I’m sorry.”

Darcy laughed. “Doofus. It’s okay. You can kiss him. You can do anything to him that he’s comfortable with. Same with me.” She seized his mouth with hers, hand sliding around to tug at his hair again. Bucky reached out with his real hand hesitantly, landing on her hip and then sliding it up along her curves. She felt so good. 

Darcy wriggled forward to press herself against him, and hummed against his mouth. “More touching,” she commanded. “You’ve barely touched me, Bucky.”

“She likes being touched,” Steve confirmed. “She’s a very tactile person.”

True. Bucky smiled against her mouth, and then trailed away from her mouth and down into her neck. He smiled at the little squeal of delight that came from her mouth as he nipped at the soft skin of her neck, and his hand slid from her side to cup one breast. They were magnificent. She managed to hide their fullness under looser shirts, so he was a little surprised. But then again, Steve always did like busty, mouthy, brunettes. Damn. He was a mouthy brunette. Maybe not busty, but very much a mouthy brunette. Steve definitely had a type.

That thought couldn’t be contained, and Bucky laughed into Darcy’s neck.

“He’s laughing, Steve,” she complained, tugging at Bucky’s hair again. “Why is he laughing right now? Are my breasts funny?”

Bucky pulled back from her neck. “Your breasts are magnificent,” he told her. “But I was just thinking that the punk here likes mouthy brunettes. He consistently goes for them.” He winked. “We might want to watch him around Stark.”

For a second or two, he wondered if he had gone too far. Steve and Darcy were both staring at him with slack jawed expressions, and Bucky cringed inside. Then Steve just erupted into laughter and flopped onto his back, pressing the back of his hands over his eyes while he laughed uncontrollably. Darcy’s eyes crinkled in mirth, and she looked fondly over her shoulder at Steve.

“I think you broke him,” she said softly. “I’ve never seen him laugh like that.”

As Steve continued to laugh, Darcy turned back to Bucky and slammed her mouth on his. “Thank you,” she muttered, pushing him over onto his back and straddling his stomach.

Bucky’s hands fell onto her hips. He was a little unprepared for her almost ferocious assault on his mouth, so he just stayed still, accepting it. When she started wiggling against his stomach, slowly inching down toward the part of him that was straining up toward her, he groaned, hips lifting off the mattress a little. He was right on the edge of the bed, and if they moved around too much, they’d fall to the floor.

Steve’s laughter trailed off, and he seemed to realize how close to the edge they were as well. Bucky was dimly aware of him rolling off the other side of the bed, and then he was sliding toward the middle of the bed as the sheets under him moved. That felt weird. 

Darcy was wiggling all over him, and occasionally brushing him. Bucky was practically panting from her assault on all of his senses. He ran his real hand up her back and seized her hair to tug on it, pulling her mouth back from his. 

“You’re killing me, pumpkin.” 

She grinned, lips swollen and eyes huge. “I’m sure gonna try. You clean?”

He made a face at her. “You know I am. S.H.I.E.L.D gave me a clean bill of health before they released me.”

Her pelvis wiggled its way down over his while her eyes flashed. “I didn’t ask about STDs.”

Bucky winked at her. “I did.” 

Steve rejoined them on the bed. “Don’t tease, Darce. He looks like he’s gonna explode soon.”

She sat up, now straddling his thighs, hands braced on his chest. “Major backup, huh Bucky?”

He laughed softly. “That’s rude pumpkin.”

“Did you touch yourself? Thinking about me?”

“No,” he corrected, tugging her back down to him by her hair. “I touched myself thinking about both of you.”

She nipped his bottom lip hard, eyes dancing, and rubbed against him a little more. “Do you want to do something with that thing that’s poking into my stomach?”

Bucky huffed. “Do you ever stop talking?”

She did when she finally lined things up and sank down on him. Then there was no time or energy for words, just breathless noises and appreciative groans. And through it all, Steve’s hands were on them both, linking all three of them. 

Bucky was thankful for the hasty release in the bathroom earlier, because at least he didn’t totally embarrass himself by not lasting as long as he could. Still, it wasn’t long before he was trembling in an effort to hold it back. 

“Darcy,” he gasped out. “Shit. You gotta slow down.”

He heard Steve’s snort of laughter from right beside his ear. “She never does once she gets going. That’s okay, Buck. I can finish her off for you.” Teeth that were not Darcy’s tugged at his earlobe, and Bucky shouted, coming so hard he nearly blacked out. It was almost painful. 

Darcy stayed with him until his muscles unlocked, then kissed him thoroughly and pulled away. She smirked, eyes raking over him, then looked to his left and let an appreciative whistle. Bucky turned his head to see Steve stretched out on his back beside him, taking matters into his own hand, so to speak. He shouldn’t find that as arousing as he did, but it was fascinating to watch. 

“Need some help, Captain Rogers?” Darcy asked. She rolled off of Bucky and onto Steve, grinning down at him. 

Steve winked at Bucky. “Well, I did promise Buck that I had his back, and since he couldn’t get the job done…”

Bucky turned up on his side so he could slap a hand down on Steve’s chest. “You suck, punk.”

Darcy turned a speculative gaze on both of them. “Hmm…we might possibly be able to arrange that.”

And while Bucky’s brain was short circuiting over that thought, Steve made good on his promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! That got a little longer than I planned, but I hope it was worth the wait! The story isn’t over yet, so stay tuned for some more plot, day-after fallout, and more!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry folks! This took a lot longer than I thought it would! We had a three week long fundraiser drive at work, so I spent three weeks baking and making food constantly, and then it took me a week to recover. Lol. 
> 
> I’m pretty sure only one more chapter after this one, but then again, this was supposed to be the last one, so no promises. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for sticking with it!

He was warm.

After falling into an icy river as well as being put into cold storage when not needed as the Winter Soldier, Bucky appreciated being warm. Usually, it seemed like the ice had a permanent place inside of him, a freezing core that nothing could melt. But when he woke from a peaceful dream of Coney Island, summer sun beating down on him and a pre-serum Steve Rogers as they rode the Cyclops, every part of him was warm. 

It was the best waking he’d had since he’d become Bucky again.

Actually, he was more than warm. He was hot. But relaxed. Damn relaxed, considering the gnawing need that had been eating at him since he’d come back to himself. 

When Bucky’s brain woke up enough to register the sounds of breathing on either side of him, the night came back in a rush. The night, dawn, and midmorning as well. Huh. He wondered what time it really was. 

A vague memory surfaced of Steve, unfettered grin spreading across his face, making a phone call to Jane Foster and S.H.I.E.L.D to advise that Darcy, Bucky, and himself would be unavailable today. He cited “an incident at home’ as to why, and assured everyone that the three of them were okay, but very tired. 

Bucky finally peeled his eyes open, and blinked several times to clear the blurriness of sleep. No wonder he was hot. Darcy was pressed to his left side, head pillowed against his chest, dark hair fanned out across his skin. Her left leg was thrown over his, left arm stretched out over his abdomen, holding him down in case he tried to run he guessed. 

Steve was pressed to his right side, head nestled on Bucky’s right shoulder. His mouth was open and there was a line of drool trailing from his lips down over Bucky’s chest. Steve’s right arm was also stretched across Bucky’s midsection, meeting Darcy’s in the middle, fingers wrapped loosely around her wrist. Steve was half pinning him down, as if Bucky had tried to leave, or maybe Steve was just afraid that he would. 

After months of keeping everyone at arm’s length, pushing everyone away from his own personal darkness, this new closeness was a little overwhelming, but personally satisfying. It was cementing the part of him that was Bucky, taking him back to the days of Captain America and the Howling Commandos. They had been a close knit group out of necessity as they traveled across the continents, taking down Hydra base by base. Having that feeling again reminded Bucky of his lighter times. 

An unexpected revelation during the night had caught him by surprise. The memories of his time as the Winter Soldier were dim, and not really at the forefront of his mind unless he focused on them, but sometimes one would bubble up and surprise him. Darcy had been taking a nap, hard pressed to keep up with the stamina of two super soldiers. Bucky was still coiled tight with amorous energy, as was Steve, so they had spent some time making out, learning how it felt. When Steve had expressed confusion over how things actually worked between two men (Darcy hadn’t been able to talk him into watching videos, he had admitted with a flaming face), Bucky had given him a very graphic description.

He was providing an extremely detailed explanation, fingers of his flesh hand idly stroking along Steve’s side, when he became aware of Steve’s silent stare. 

“What?”

His best friend had blinked at him in confusion. “Is there something about you that I didn’t know? Because you didn’t learn how things ‘felt’ by watching videos.”

The memories had bubbled up in his head then. Apparently, the Winter Soldier had not hesitated to seduce either gender in the course of completing his missions. Bucky had flushed hard as those memories played through his head, and he lost a little time, coming back to Steve cupping his face in those big hands of his, calling his name. 

When he’d hesitantly admitted that he had some experience, Steve’s eyebrows had nearly flown away in surprise. Then, reverting to a much younger version of himself, he had asked some truly awkward questions. Bucky could see the curiosity practically eating Steve alive, and it promised interesting times ahead. 

The amount of drool coming from Steve’s mouth multiplied shortly before the super soldier woke with a soft, indrawn breath. Bucky waited, fighting back a smile as Steve took in the situation, and raised a hand to his mouth to wipe away the trail of drool. Then his ears reddened, and he pulled a corner of the bed sheet up to wipe the line of wetness from Bucky’s chest. 

“Thought you were too perfect to drool,” Bucky murmured softly. 

Steve’s eyes flicked up to meet his. “C’mon jerk, you of all people should know better.” He smiled then, at ease and relaxed in a way Bucky hadn’t seen in a very long time, but felt for himself right now. “You look…um…relaxed.”

Bucky grinned at him, real hand sliding up Steve’s back to tug on his hair. “I feel relaxed,” he assured. “I feel…complete.”

Steve nodded at him, pulling back a little bit so he wasn’t pinning Bucky down quite so much. “That’s weird, because that was what I was going to say.” One side of his mouth quirked up in that mischievous grin Bucky had always loved. “Unconventional, but undeniable.”

“Ugh,” Darcy grumbled from Bucky’s other side. He looked down at her, and her eyes were still closed. “If you two are gonna get all mushy, I’m seriously gonna bite someone. I cannot handle mushy right now.”

Bucky slid the metal arm around her shoulders and bent his head to press a kiss to the top of hers. “Why not, pumpkin?”

Eyes still closed, she opened her mouth and bit his pectoral. “I am exhausted. Seriously exhausted. One super soldier is bad enough. Two at the same time?”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “I’m not a super soldier, pumpkin. Just a little enhanced.”

She bit him again. “I’m tired, Barnes. Did you hear me? You and Steve wore me out. I’m like absolute jelly here.” Her eyes hadn’t opened yet. 

“What flavor, sweetheart?” Steve asked, sharing a smirk with Bucky. 

“Pomegranate,” she sighed. Her hand twisted in Steve’s loose grasp and fingers tugged at Bucky’s treasure trail, sending a jolt of energy straight to his groin and pulling a groan from his mouth.

“Darce, if you’re so exhausted, that’s probably not something you should be doing right now,” he warned softly. Her fingers were considering trekking lower, tapping thoughtfully on his stomach. She still hadn’t opened her eyes. 

He watched, bemused, as her fingers made grabby hands at Steve’s fingers, and once she had hold of them, pulled them in a dancing little trek down his stomach. Things were about to get very interesting when Steve’s Avenger alert sounded from the living room. 

Darcy’s eyes finally flew open. “You have got to be kidding me,” she grumped. 

Steve pressed his forehead to Bucky’s chest with a frustrated sigh, and then pulled away. “Don’t get out of bed on my account,” he told them. “It’s probably just Tony being nosy.”

Bucky doubted that. He watched Steve hastily pull on a pair of sweats and then jog out toward the living room, butt swinging sweetly. He’d never allowed himself to notice it before, but Steve did have a fine backside.

When Steve was out of sight, Bucky blinked and looked down, only to find Darcy staring up at him with a shit-eating grin. “You were totally checking out his ass,” she sang softly, eyes laughing at him. 

Bucky shrugged. “You’ve seen it. It’s a fantastic ass.” He watched her fingers, tapping against his stomach again. Admittedly, it was a little odd to be cuddled naked in a bed together without Steve. The reality of Steve and Darcy had been so firm in his head, and being intimate with her while Steve wasn’t there…

Darcy must have seen the look on his face. Her tapping stopped, and she reached up with that hand to cup his cheek. “Hey. Stop getting twitchy on me. We’re together now. You and me and Steve. I’m not cheating on Steve by being here with just you. You’re not betraying him. It’s okay.”

Bucky exhaled slowly and tried to relax. Every muscle had tensed in guilt. “It might take me a little time to adapt, Darce. I spent months being very careful to not steal my best friend’s girl. The idea that it’s approved now is a little strange.”

She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Don’t get all weird about it, okay? Just talk to us! Not talking to us about what was bugging you made you leave us, and that wasn’t good for any of us.”

No. It hadn’t been. 

Darcy snuggled closer with a contented sigh. “Why did we struggle through all those months apart?”

Bucky snorted softly. “Because the idea of a threesome never occurred to any of us until Stark said something. I…I wouldn’t have even entertained the idea. It’s just not done.”

Darcy laughed softly. “It wasn’t talked about, back in your day, and it was certainly a lot rarer, but it happened. I guarantee it. And nowadays…well…it’s not common, but it’s not unheard of.”

“Bucky!” Steve called from the living room. 

The sharp tone had Bucky in motion instantly. He rolled across the bed and dropped smoothly to the floor, snatching up his sweatpants and stepping into them. Leaving Darcy complaining bitterly of superheroes and their priorities, he trotted out to the living room.

Steve was pacing with nervous energy. He grinned tightly when Bucky joined him, pointing to the tablet propped up on the coffee table, showing Stark’s face.

“Hey Terminator,” Stark greeted. “Geez, were you all asleep? It’s three in the afternoon.”

“Just trying out your schedule, Tony.” Steve straightened. “Tell him.”

The image of Stark smirked. “Found Pierce’s super-secret, not-even-S.H.I.E.L.D-knows-about-it hideout. He’s holed up in it currently. Thought maybe you might want to go say hi.”

Bucky grinned tightly. “I would, yes. Since the man sees me as an embarrassment to S.H.I.E.L.D, and he’s managed to freak out everyone I know, I think we should go say hi.”

Steve nodded. “Suit up. And we’re dropping Darcy off somewhere safe. Preferably with Clint and Natasha.”

“Capsicle! I’m not safe anymore?”

Bucky tried to curb his smile. Poor Stark actually sounded hurt. “Your tech is neat, Stark, but apparently it’s too well known if this Pierce guy can gain access to the Tower’s science labs without being spotted.” Bucky offered a grin. “Don’t worry, Stark. I heard it happens to all men as they get older.” He ignored Stark’s spluttering protests and turned to wink at Steve.

“No offense, Tony. But right now, the Tower doesn’t feel secure to me. Thanks for the info.” He leaned over and tapped the tablet to turn it off, then turned to Bucky. “Uh…you can convince Darcy to get out of bed and get dressed.”

Bucky wilted a little. “Thanks.” He’d seen Darcy’s tenacity at staying in bed in certain situations. She was not going to be happy with orders to get up and ready.

He was pleasantly surprised when he returned to the bedroom, and she was already shuffling around, pulling clothes out of dressers and the closet. “I want you to punch the bastard as hard as you can,” she instructed. “He’s interrupting our time. That’s just not allowed.”

Bucky smiled fondly. “I’m with ya, pumpkin. I’m gonna go suit up.”

She grumbled and waved a dismissive hand at him. “Blah.”

Steve was clearly a little frustrated when Bucky emerged from his room, suited up. How did the man manage to get into his uniform so quickly, anyway? Bucky had started before him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, securing his weapons. There were two long trench coats in the closet just for this situation, to cover their uniforms in case they had to suit up at home. Darcy’s idea, actually. She’d been giggling madly the whole time while she suggested it. 

Steve scowled. “Barton and Romanoff are not available. Thor is in Asgard. Bruce is in the Tower with Tony.” He paced. “What do we do with Darcy?”

She emerged from the bathroom just then. “What do you mean, what do you do with me? What? Like I’m a pet or something?”

Bucky bit his lip as Steve rolled his eyes and tried to soothe her. “We want you to be safe, Darce. Here by yourself is not an option. The Tower isn’t an option because it’s already been compromised.”

She shrugged. “So you think leaving me with Iron Man and the Hulk isn’t safe?”

“The Tower isn’t safe,” Steve hedged. “I trust Tony and Bruce to keep you safe, but the Tower isn’t, and I don’t see them coming out of the Tower.”

Bucky isn’t unfamiliar with bad ideas. After all, he’d pretty much been the king of bad ideas back in the day. But the ‘bad idea’ look on Darcy’s face just before she opened her mouth made him wonder what the hell he was getting himself into.

“Then I’ll go with you.”

Steve’s mouth gaped open. “You’ll…no! I want to keep you safe, Darce. Not put you into the line of fire.”

She snorted at him. “I’ll be with Captain America and the former Winter Soldier. How is that not safe?”

Bucky bit his lip. She wasn’t wrong, and it did seem to be the best solution. But convincing Steve of that…

“Bucky? What do you think?”

Shit. Steve would put him on the spot. Bucky ran a hand through his hair with a wince. “I think she’s right, Steve. Look. Stark and Banner know where we’re going. Call in and notify that agent you trust so much too.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully. “Coulson. He’d make good backup, if necessary.”

Darcy bounced excitedly, clapping her hands together. It was so ridiculously cute that Bucky had to look away. “Do I get to suit up?” she squealed. “I have gear from Natasha, you know.”

Judging by the look on Steve’s face, he hadn’t known. Bucky certainly hadn’t known. He turned back to Darcy and shrugged, jerking his chin in the direction of the bedroom. “Go suit up then, pumpkin.”

He watched her skip away and then turned back to Steve in trepidation. The captain did not look very happy, but he also didn’t look like he was going to bite Bucky’s head off. At the inquisitive look sent his way, he shrugged. “I can’t imagine that Pierce can bring anything that you and I can’t handle. We’ll have an added incentive if Darcy is with us to keep her safe.”

Bucky tilted his head. “You’re being amazingly agreeable about this. I would have thought that you’d be biting my head off now.”

Steve shrugged, averting his eyes with a little blush. “I feel pretty relaxed right now, Buck.”

Bucky laughed. “You should after the night we had. Who knew?”

Steve shot him a look out of the corner of his eyes. “Who knew what?”

“That Captain America would mellow out after lots and lots of sex.”

“Thanks Buck. You’re as bad as Stark sometimes.” 

Darcy rejoined them in minutes. “I’m having trouble here, boys. Can you buckle me up?”

She did indeed have a S.H.I.E.L.D type tactical suit. Bucky could tell just by looking at it that it was reinforced, and had to silently thank Natasha. The redhead had to have figured that Darcy could come under fire at some point, what with dating Captain America and being roomies with the former Winter Soldier. There were a lot of people out there with reason to hate Bucky, and that was another scenario he and Steve had discussed at length. 

Without comment, he assisted Steve in buckling Darcy into her gear. She was even wearing S.H.I.E.L.D issued boots. 

“It’s a little snug,” she confessed nervously, twisting her hair into a knot at the base of her neck.

Steve finished the last buckle and ran his hands down Darcy’s arms. “Because it’s meant to withstand bullets and knives, sweetheart. I don’t want to put that to the test, okay? We say ‘run’, you run, right?”

She stretched up and pressed a kiss to his mouth, and then pivoted to do the same to Bucky. “I’m not gonna try to be a hero,” she assured. 

She did have her own long coat for the occasion though, and laughed at all three of them when they were covered. “We look like a bad B movie cast,” she complained. “C’mon. Let’s go say hi to the asshole.”

A cab seemed to be the least conspicuous form of transport, and this gave Steve a chuckle. “Stark would just have a fit if he saw this.”

Since the three of them were crammed into the back of the cab, coats struggling to cover their uniform pants, it was a little funny. Steve had made a quick call to Agent Coulson before they left, as an added backup to Stark and Banner. He didn’t want anything to go south.

When the cab pulled up in front of a ratty looking office building, the address given by Stark, Bucky shared a look with Steve. It didn’t seem like a place the Pierce would frequent, but then again, who knew?

Steve had the cab move on another two blocks, and then they slid out. Bucky couldn’t help but think that they looked terribly conspicuous in their long coats, but given the chill in the weather, he saw others dressed similarly. He felt exposed though, and wanted more intel before they went in. 

“Go to the coffee shop on the corner,” he ordered the other two. “I’m going to do some preliminary scouting.”

Steve nodded, eyes admitting that his own observation skills couldn’t match Bucky’s. “Don’t go in,” he admonished. 

“Be careful,” Darcy seconded. 

“I won’t go in. I will be careful,” he replied to both. Everyone was a little skittish, since their unconventional relationship was so new. He wasn’t going to jeopardize that.

He walked away from them, pulling out his cell phone and pressing it to his ear, proceeding to have a loud unfocused ‘conversation’ with ‘Natalie’ as he circled the building, assassin trained eyes picking out all the details he needed. There was an office in the back with no views into it. The blinds were closed tightly, and there were blackout curtains behind the blinds. Based on the limited view he had into the rest of the building, no one even knew it was there, as it seemed to be behind a maintenance closet. 

There was an outside entrance to it, he finally realized, from underneath the building. That would be their point of entrance as well. 

He took a meandering course around a few blocks and back to Steve and Darcy, who were enjoying coffee as if all was well. Darcy pushed a cup his way, and Bucky slid into the unoccupied chair beside her. It wasn’t his favorite flavor, but it would do in a pinch. 

“Underground entrance, probably from the subway. I don’t think anyone in the building knows it’s there.”

Steve’s smile was grim. “Let’s go say hello.”

Bucky took the lead, heading toward the nearest subway entrance. His unerring sense of direction led him to a maintenance closet in the subway station. Making sure no one was looking, he swiftly opened the door and slid inside, followed by Darcy and Steve. 

The staircase was cleverly concealed, with a pull down hatch for access to it. Darcy made impatient noises while Bucky circled it, eyes combing the hatch frame. He finally found it, a sensor that would undoubtedly send an alarm when the hatch opened. He dug into the ceiling and found the connecting wire. Hoping that the absence of a signal wouldn’t send an alarm, he pulled the wire free of the sensor.

Outwardly nothing happened. Bucky shrugged at Steve, and pulled the hatch open as quietly as possible. He pulled the trench coat off and shook a knife out of its sheath under his arm. It was unspoken that he would go first. Of the two of them, he had far more experience than Steve in covert operations, plus the almost superhuman observations skills of a master assassin. Steve couldn’t compete with that. He always let Bucky take point on missions where the details hadn’t been filled in for them. 

He eased his way onto the pull down ladder, wincing at the inevitable creaks. It was only a few steps up until he emerged in a dimly lit windowless room with no doors, dominated entirely by the cement staircase climbing up to where he knew the secret office to be. As far as Bucky could tell, it was camera free. 

He leaned over and beckoned to Steve and Darcy. They joined him as quietly as possible and followed him up the cement staircase. It ended in a plain door. Bucky pressed his ear to it, and heard voices on the other side. He sheathed the knife and drew a gun, sparing a glance at Steve and Darcy. She looked a little frightened, but Steve still had his grim face on. 

Bucky shrugged and popped the door open with his free hand, sliding through and taking aim with his gun. There were two people in the room. At a desk, what he’d suspected but now confirmed – Pierce was the suit who had visited him when he’d moved away from Steve and Darcy. The other person was standing off to one side, back to the door and hadn’t yet turned. There was something off about the outline of that person, but Bucky was focused on Pierce. 

As was Steve when he stepped through the door. “Mr. Pierce. We need to have a discussion about boundaries.”

Pierce laced his fingers together on the desk and smiled. “Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Together again. How pleasant.”

Bucky twitched. Something about the phrasing the man used was…familiar? “I’m not the Winter Soldier anymore,” he reminded. 

“On the contrary, Yasha.” The other person in the room turned, and Bucky focused on him for the first time. On it. It was man shaped, with an artificial head, and a face on a display screen in the chest. A face out of Bucky’s nightmares. He nearly dropped his gun. 

“Zola.”

The face grinned. “Ah. You remember. We had such fun times together through the years, Yasha. But you have become a hindrance to our plan.”

Bucky felt himself fragmenting, a part of his psyche running to the deepest recesses of his brain with a howl of terror. Every instinct in his body told him to run, because next would come the needles, knives, chemicals and pain. 

Steve stepped forward, placing himself between the nightmare figure and Bucky. Protecting him. “So. This is how you’ve survived the years.”

“I’ve made improvements to myself,” the Zola-thing told him smugly. “But my true masterpiece stands behind you. Winter Soldier tiefe erholung zu initiieren.”

The words reverberated deep within Bucky and spread outward, pushing him away from himself. This is what he had feared. A deep trigger that could be activated by his creators. And there didn’t seem to be anything he could do about it as the part of him that was Bucky was closed into a quiet dark corner of his mind. He felt his body slide the gun back into its holster, and stand at attention, ready to be used.

He watched Pierce stand. Darcy and Jarvis were right. There was something off about the man. His chilling smile was only the tip of the iceberg. 

“Such a pity, Captain, that you trust so blindly. Did you truly think that a premiere assassin of his quality would so easily be deprogrammed?”

Bucky felt a small hand slip into one of his and tug. Trying to bring him back to himself, no doubt. But he was awaiting orders. The tiny little part of him that was still him was inside his head screaming, but it had no influence right now. Bucky waited for orders.

Steve’s eyes seemed to go dead when he turned and saw Bucky, blank, ready to be programmed. His lips thinned and the rest of his face pulled into a furious scowl. He barked out “Darcy! Run!” and whipped back around quickly, one arm snatching the shield from his back and throwing it at Pierce. It happened so fast everything was a blur, and Pierce should have been on the floor. 

Instead, he caught the shield with a hard smile. “My dear Captain, it is not polite to throw things.”

The hand holding Bucky’s tugged urgently, but Bucky was unable to respond. He was waiting for orders. The boxed off part of him howled at Darcy to run, like she’d promised, but she didn’t, trying to bring him back.

“What are you?” Steve snarled at Pierce. He drew a gun, aiming it at Pierce’s head. 

“First you throw things, and now you point a gun at my head? That’s hardly the way to treat an old acquaintance, Captain.”

The waiting-to-be-programmed portion of Bucky’s mind watched with clinical disinterest as Pierce sat the shield down on his desk, reached behind his head, and literally pulled his face off to reveal a familiar countenance. 

“Schmidt!” Steve barked out in disbelief. “You died!”

The Red Skull smiled grimly. “No Captain. I just went elsewhere. That is what the Tesseract does, after all. It opens a doorway to space.”

Bucky waited for orders. 

Steve apparently tired of being nice, and squeezed off a shot at Schmidt’s head. The man moved his head almost absently, bullet missing him completely, and picked up the shield, throwing it back with bruising force. Steve caught it, but lost the gun in the process. The Red Skull smiled again, eyes going to Bucky, waiting for orders, and then to Darcy, cowering behind Bucky, still poking and prodding at him. 

“Zola.” 

The Zola thing smiled in undisguised glee. “Yasha. Kill her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The translation is from the internet, so I hope it’s right. It means: 'Initiate Winter Soldier deep recovery'. Sorry for the cliffhanger ending. The chapter got much longer than I planned, so I had to break it up into two.


	5. Chapter 5

Dread started building in Steve’s gut when Bucky identified the standing thing as Zola. He could see Bucky shrinking into himself, eyes going wide with remembered horrors, stepping back. He slid smoothly into place between Bucky and Zola, protecting his best friend. He wouldn’t let Zola hurt him again.

“So. This is how you’ve survived the years,” he realized.

The thing grinned at him and smugly told him that it had made improvements to itself. Then it identified that Bucky was his greatest success, and barked out an order in German. 

Steve didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to look because he heard it happen. There was a slight pause, a hitch in the breathing and heartbeat of the man behind him. Then everything resumed, perfectly controlled. The slide of metal against leather told Steve that Bucky had just holstered his gun. 

He didn’t want to look. He didn’t want to see the absence of his best friend who had been lost to him for years and only recently recovered. A best friend who was part of him, part of a stabilizing bond that kept Steve Rogers whole.

Pierce stood, haughty in his triumph. “Such a pity, Captain, that you trust so blindly. Did you truly think that a premiere assassin of his quality would so easily be deprogrammed?”

Steve wanted to rip the smug expression right from the man’s stiff face. Pierce didn’t look or act like a man whose plans had been thwarted multiple times. He looked like what he wanted had come right to him. 

He could hear Darcy’s frightened and sorrowful gasps for air, and quiet, urgent murmurs to Bucky to ‘snap out of it’. He turned slowly, still not wanting to look, but knowing he had to. He had to see if there was anything of Bucky left. 

Bile rose in his throat and tears prickled his eyes. Bucky had been erased. The man that stood there, arms hanging loosely at his sides, was blank. Awaiting orders. Everything about him that made him Bucky was gone. It opened up a rush of fury and loss deep inside of Steve, and every negative emotion he’d ever suppressed was right there, bitter on his tongue and needing release. 

He scowled furiously, snatching the shield from his back, shouting for Darcy to run. Then he whipped the shield as hard and fast as he could at Pierce’s body. He wanted to hurt the man. He wanted the man to feel pain like Steve himself felt right now. He wanted splatters of Pierce all over the room, because that might make him feel better. 

Impossibly, Pierce caught the shield in his hands. It was impossible, because no normal human had reaction speed like that. Or bone structure like that, because as hard as Steve had thrown the shield, it should have gone through Pierce’s hands. At the very least, bones should have shattered. Instead, the man caught it, smiled a cold smile, and tsked at Steve. “My dear Captain, it is not polite to throw things.”

He heard Darcy in the background, still talking to Bucky, not running like she’d promised to do. And Steve wasn’t even sure if he had believed her when she said she would run, but he hadn’t vetoed the idea like he should have. He’d been swimming in a pleasant haze of finally feeling complete, and his normal edge had been worn away. How could he have possibly agreed to allow her to come with them? And then to arrive here and find out how completely unprepared they were to face Pierce and what he could do. 

Steve was done even trying to play nice. He drew his gun, pointing it right at Pierce’s head. “What are you?” he snarled. He had to keep attention on himself and away from Bucky or Darcy. He wasn’t going to give up the hope that Bucky was still in there, somewhere, and could be recovered. And Darcy had to be kept safe. Just long enough for Steve to get some answers and incapacitate his enemies. 

“First you throw things, and now you point a gun at my head? That’s hardly the way to treat an old acquaintance, Captain.”

Steve frowned. He didn’t know Pierce. Something inside of him felt like he should know the man, especially in relation to his association with Zola, but the face was not one that was familiar to him. 

He watched Pierce lay the shield down on the desk, and then reach up behind his head. Steve tracked every movement with his gun, wondering what the man was doing. The movement was familiar, sparking a memory of something that happened long ago, but Steve couldn’t quite grasp on to that memory. It remained just out of reach. 

Then, as Pierce literally pulled his face off, everything clicked into place for Steve. 

“Schmidt! But you died!”

The irony of that statement didn’t escape Steve. He had died too, technically, and so had Bucky. But they were here, and now Schmidt was too. He watched the Red Skull smile grimly.

“No Captain. I just went elsewhere. That is what the Tesseract does, after all. It opens a doorway to space.”

Steve wasn’t hesitating this time. He squeezed a shot off at Schmidt’s head, wanting to end it this time, but the man only snapped his head out of the way. He picked up the shield and hurled it back with devastating force. Steve caught it, but dropped his gun in the process, eliciting a worried noise from Darcy, who still hadn’t run. When this was over, he was going to give her the dressing down of her life. She needed to listen, dammit!

Schmidt smiled, eyes flicking to the programmable assassin standing behind Steve, and then to the young woman trying to rouse Bucky out of the blank state he was in. Steve flinched at the cold glee in Schmidt’s eyes, wondering what was coming next, and how he could stop it. 

“Zola,” Schmidt ordered. He said nothing else. 

The Zola thing smiled in unfettered joy. “Yasha. Kill her.”

“No!” Steve whirled, shield dropping from his hands, and clamped his arms around Bucky’s body, trapping his arms at his sides. The assassin had already started to turn, hand reaching for his gun, but when Steve pinned him, he went crazy. 

“Get out of here now!” he shouted to Darcy, struggling to hold Bucky’s hand away from his gun. 

He heard a low laugh from Schmidt, followed by the clank of the door closing behind them, bolts sliding into place. Darcy was trapped now. There would be no escape.

Pain blossomed in Steve’s face as Bucky threw his head back, breaking Steve’s nose with a violent crack. He dimly heard Darcy crying out for Bucky to stop, but could only focus on holding his best friend. If he failed, he failed them all. Bucky, if any part of him remained, wouldn’t survive if he seriously hurt or killed Steve or Darcy. Steve didn’t think he himself would survive without either of them. He couldn’t let go.

“C’mon Buck,” he urged. “You’re stronger than this. 

He felt the arms muscles of Bucky’s right arm flexing and straining, but that one was easy to hold down. It was the damned metal arm that was slowly breaking his hold, fingers inching closer to the holstered gun.

Steve peered around Bucky’s shoulder, sharing a look with Darcy. She was scared, eyes wide, watching the struggle between her two men. It wasn’t fair, Steve thought dimly. They had just come together last night, the three of them, and already they were in mortal danger. It was his fault that Darcy was endangered, though. He never should have let her come with them.

“I don’t think I can hold him,” he admitted to Darcy in a strained voice, muscles burning with the effort of holding the metal arm down. 

She stepped forward, hands reaching up to cup Bucky’s face, ignoring the snarl he directed at her. “Steve’s right, Bucky. You are stronger than this. I refuse to believe that you’re not in there somewhere.”

Steve wanted to believe that. He really did, because if he’d lost Bucky again…

“C’mon jerk,” he whispered. “Please.”

“Let me go,” the voice that wasn’t really Bucky’s hissed. “I’ll make it quick for her.”

Darcy gasped a little, then leaned forward, sliding her arms around Bucky’s torso as far as she could reach. It was a strange echo of how they had woken up together today, and Steve almost wanted to cry. 

“I gotta try to knock him out, Darce,” he whispered softly, hoping Pierce and Zola took no action. He couldn’t spare any thought for them right now. 

The metal arm moved another half inch. The fingers were almost on the gun. 

“Gotta move back, Darcy,” Steve instructed. If he threw Bucky at the wall hard enough, or maybe the door, it might knock him out. 

He felt Darcy’s arms squeeze Bucky’s torso, and then she moved back. There were tears tracking down her cheeks and it was like a punch to Steve’s stomach. Her eyes were focused on Bucky’s face.

“If this goes badly, Buck, just remember it’s not your fault,” she said in a wavering voice. “Not your fault. We love you.”

Steve felt a shudder run through the body he held, and it gave him a glimmer of hope. But then his shield crashed into his side, sweeping him away from Bucky and Darcy with the snap of broken ribs. Steve dimly heard Schmidt’s hard laughter as he crashed into a wall and fell to the floor. A foot came down on his throat firmly, but Steve couldn’t be bothered. His eyes snapped to Bucky, pulling the gun from its holster, and Darcy shaking and crying in front of him. 

“It’s not your fault, Bucky,” she choked out again, tears streaming from her eyes now. She shared a sorrowful look with Steve and swallowed hard as the gun lifted to point at her head. “Not your fault. We love you.”

Steve, sight growing dim from lack of oxygen, tried to remove the foot from his throat, but Schmidt was practically anchored in place, bearing down on him with a maniacal grin. 

“Finish it!” the Zola thing snapped. 

A roar of rage. A scream. A gunshot. Steve’s heart started breaking because he had failed. Failed to save either one of them and ensured his own damnation in the process. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Air rushed back into his lungs as the pressure on his throat disappeared. Steve heard the thunk of a body hitting the floor, but he couldn’t look. He didn’t want to see Darcy dead. He didn’t want to see the moment when Bucky killed him. He couldn’t bear the thought of possibly catching a glimmer of his best friend in those cold eyes, knowing that he’d failed him. 

So many regrets. He should have left Darcy with Tony and Bruce. He should have had Tony come along as backup. But he’d been basking in the afterglow of the night, and he’d been convinced that he and Bucky could handle anything that Pierce brought against them. He hadn’t even entertained the possibility of something turning Bucky back into the Winter Soldier, or of Pierce being anything more than a power-hungry man.

Hands patted his cheeks. Hands that felt like Darcy’s hands. “Can you breathe? I don’t think he can breathe. Steve?”

He pried his eyes open in disbelief. Darcy’s tear stained face hovered over him. How? Then beside her face, Bucky’s. He looked like hell, strained and worn, but it was definitely Bucky. 

“Steve? Can you breathe?”

Steve took a big breath, wincing at the pain in his face, throat and ribs. He nodded. “What…what happened?” he croaked out. It would take some time for the abused throat to recover. 

Bucky’s metal arm slipped under his shoulders and helped him sit up. Steve blinked, looking at the body on the floor. Schmidt. Blood was spreading in a pool under the Red Skull. 

“Buck?” he asked shakily. 

“Mostly,” Bucky answered hoarsely. “Feels like my brain is on fire, but I beat it. Couldn’t take the tears.” He looked years older than he had last night, and there was a darkness in his eyes that would probably take days or weeks to go away. As long as he didn’t run. 

Darcy’s head leaned over to press against Bucky’s, and they both pressed into Steve. He reveled in it, wanting to close his eyes, but also wanting to keep an eye on the Zola thing. It seemed incapacitated right now, staring down at the body on the floor in shock. Steve dragged the phone from his belt to make a call to Stark. Calling in the cavalry.

Darcy edged away from them both for a second to recover Steve’s gun and shield, and then sidled back into place beside them. She pressed herself to Bucky’s side, frowning when he tried to pull away, and reached out to tap him on the nose like a wayward animal.

“You don’t get to do that again, Buck.”

Steve watched him shudder. “I almost killed you, Pumpkin. I was…I hurt Steve.”

She latched onto his arm. “But you didn’t kill me. And Steve’s fine. You only broke his nose. That’s happened before. He’ll recover from that in an hour or so. Right Steve?”

“I’m fine,” he assured. “Schmidt hurt me more.” He reached out to curl his fingers around Bucky’s other arm. “Darcy’s right, jerk. Don’t pull away from us. You beat it.”

Caged in by the two people he loved, Bucky shook again. “It was so close, Steve.” He bowed his head, hair falling forward to hide his face. “So close.”

Steve looked on in worry as Bucky swayed. Worry morphed into fear when droplets of blood began falling from Bucky’s nose. “Buck?”

“Head hurts a lot,” his best friend complained. “Feels like my brain is moving around inside of it.”

Darcy stood up and walked over to the Zola thing, pointing Steve’s gun at its face. “What’s going on?” she demanded. Steve was impressed. Darcy was holding the gun like she knew how to use it. He didn’t know she had any experience with guns, but she looked very confident right now. In fact…he’d seen that stance before. It seemed Natasha had been giving Darcy some gun lessons on the sly, as well as supplying her with tactical clothing. 

The Zola thing bought into her intimidation, shrinking back against the desk behind it. “He broke through the deepest trigger. It is likely that his brain is hemorrhaging right now.”

Darcy practically snarled. “What does that mean?”

“He will be in a lot of pain while his brain repairs itself. If he did not have the serum, he would suffer permanent brain damage.”

“Can we do anything to make it easier for him?”

“No. Anything you do could upset the balance of repair.”

Steve forced himself to move, shifting until his back was against the wall. Then he reached out and pulled Bucky back against him. Bucky resisted for a moment, muscles tensed, but then he relaxed, head lolling back onto Steve’s shoulder and rolling to one side so that the blood still dripping from his nose ran down Steve’s chest. 

Darcy backed across the room, gun still trained on Zola, and slowly slid down the wall beside Steve. He reached out to take the gun from her, but she shook her head. “I got this.”

He tried to remember that he was mad at her for not running like she’d promised, and he was sure it would come up later, but right now, he was grateful that she was channeling Natasha. He was hurting physically, and still trying to deal with the emotional backlash of those few seconds where he thought Bucky had killed her. Then to see Bucky suffering his own physical backlash…Steve didn’t have the energy to be Captain America right now. 

The welcome sound of the Iron Man repulsors allowed Steve to relax a little more. Tony irritated the hell out of him on the best days, but he was good at this part. The coming-to-the-rescue part. 

The outside wall bulged inwards and then imploded softly. Iron Man hovered in the opening, and then dropped to the ground with a clank. He brought backup, Steve could see, as Bruce separated from the Iron Man suit cautiously, tensed and ready for action if necessary. 

“This is different.” The Iron Man faceplate flipped up and Tony took in the scene. “Spangles and Terminator are down for the count, and Kick Ass is holding a gun. I’m a little scared.”

“You should be,” Darcy told him dryly. “Bruce, glad you’re here too. This…thing is making me nervous, and so is the body on the floor. With the track record of serum infused people not really dying or coming back to life, I’m not really trusting that he’s dead.”

Tony walked closer and looked down. “Holy shit! Is that the Red Skull? Didn’t he die, Capsicle?”

“Apparently not,” Steve told him. “The Tesseract sent him somewhere else. I saw him dissolve into light; assumed he was dead. Aliens and space travel weren’t in my reality then.”

Tony scratched at his head. “Was that Pierce? Pierce was the Red Skull? The Red Skull infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D? Oh that’s rich. One-eye is not gonna be happy about that!”

Steve sighed. “Tony. Can you radio S.H.I.E.L.D? They need to take Zola into custody.” He spared a glance for the body on the floor, hearing Darcy’s words echo in his head. “And the body. Because I’m with Darcy. I don’t trust that he’s really dead.”

Tony was practically bouncing in glee as he contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. Steve rolled his eyes. Let Fury deal with it. He only wanted to get home, to be with his new relationship dynamic. To celebrate the fact that the person who’d been trying to acquire Bucky wouldn’t do so anymore. Hell, they needed to celebrate that they were all still alive!

Bucky groaned against his neck, blood still dripping.

“Steve?” Bruce crossed the room, deftly avoiding the body, and knelt by Steve’s side. “What’s wrong? What happened to you two? What can I do?”

Steve smiled wearily. “It has to run its course, Bruce. For both of us. Bucky is just going to have a terrible headache. His brain got a little shredded.”

“Feels like there’s an ice pick in my head,” Bucky complained in a strained voice. 

Darcy placed a hand on his shoulder, flicking the safety on the gun and tucking it into her belt with her other hand. “At least there’s not a trigger in there anymore.”

Steve smothered a smile. She always knew the best way to look at things. That’s why she was so good for both of them. She was the ever burning light in the darkness that made up most of their lives. If not for her, well, he wasn’t sure if Bucky would have overcome his programming. Either time.

Apparently, finding out that a retired S.H.I.E.L.D agent/current World Security Council member was actually the Red Skull in disguise put Nick Fury in a very bad mood. Steve heard the director arrive. He was pretty sure everyone in a three block radius heard Nick Fury arrive. 

Bucky flinched against him, still slumped against Steve’s chest. The blood drip had slowed, thankfully, but he still seemed to be in terrible pain and the angry shouting of the director was likely hurting his head.

Steve lifted his chin, jaw clenched. “Bruce. Can you ask the director to lower his voice please? His volume is hurting Bucky’s head.”

Bruce offered a crooked smile, and moved to the hole in the wall. Steve heard him quietly ask Nick Fury to lower his volume. The director shouted in return, and Steve wanted to cheer when Bruce straightened from his usual slump and calmly advised the director that angry shouting made him nervous. Quite suddenly, only the sounds of the city could be heard. Nick Fury didn’t want the Hulk to make an appearance, it seemed. 

The director clumped into the room, eye darting around to take in the situation. “Would somebody please tell me what the hell happened here?”

Steve opened his mouth, but Darcy beat him to it, standing up to face Nick Fury. “Well Director, Captain Rogers received a tip about a secret hideaway that Pierce was using. He decided to check it out, after the Tower invasion the other day. Sergeant Barnes and I accompanied him. Sergeant Barnes identified this secret room, and located an entrance from the subway tunnel. We found a little bit more than we expected though. As you can see, Pierce was actually the Red Skull, and he was in cahoots with his old buddy Zola over there, who apparently had a big role in creating the Winter Soldier. Zola activated a deep trigger to reinstate the Winter Soldier personality, and ordered Sergeant Barnes to kill me. The sergeant was able to overcome that programming and break through the trigger. He put a bullet in the Red Skull’s head, and now his brain is repairing itself.”

Steve had to hide a smile as Darcy cocked a hip saucily, silently daring Nick Fury to mess with her. 

“Cap?”

“What she said,” Steve agreed wearily. “All we want to do right now, Director, is go home. There were a few very tense minutes.”

Stark was practically bouncing in his suit at the drama. “I can have a car take you home,” he offered. 

Steve knew that the offer was made mostly to piss off Fury, but he was too tired to be annoyed with Tony. “I’d appreciate that, Tony.”

He filed the brief look of surprise on Stark’s face, followed by an oddly honest smile, away in his head to think about later. Right now, he just wanted to be home. 

Nick Fury tilted his head to one side, taking in the sad shape of Bucky still slumped against Steve. “Maybe he should see Medical first?”

Steve wasn’t keen on that idea, but he also didn’t want Bucky to suffer any permanent brain damage, and he didn’t really trust Zola to be telling the truth. He turned to Stark. “Can your car take us to S.H.I.E.L.D first?”

Tony took a long look at Bucky before nodding. “Yeah. Probably a good idea. I’d offer my own doctors, but I think they’re a little out of their depth when it comes to brainwashing.”

True. Steve couldn’t argue that. With only a little reluctance, he allowed Tony to pull him and Bucky to their feet. Bucky swayed quite a bit on the walk out to the car Tony had called. Tony himself was flying back to the Tower, but Bruce decided to ride in the car. As security he admitted once in the car. Because he wasn’t sure that there weren’t factions of S.H.I.E.L.D agents loyal to Pierce out there, and if there were, they would probably be less likely to try anything with the Hulk in attendance.

Steve was very grateful. He felt drained and just wanted to be Steve Rogers right now, not Captain America, so he was grateful to have Bruce as a watchdog. 

Hours later, S.H.I.E.L.D medical cleared Bucky to leave. They had watched the hemorrhage in his brain literally heal itself, so had no reason to keep him. He would probably have a headache for hours, but it would pass. Brainwashing specialists, given the information from what had happened, advised that testing would need to be done in a few days to confirm that the deep trigger was gone.

Darcy was tired and cranky when Stark’s car delivered them home, but ordered both men to the bathroom, where all three stripped and slipped into the shower. It was a little crowded but very comforting in a way, after the draining emotions of the evening. Bucky was almost asleep on his feet. Darcy took care of washing him while Steve kept him upright. When she massaged his scalp while washing his hair, Bucky went boneless and nearly slipped through Steve’s arms. Steve tightened his grip at the last minute, barely keeping him upright, and once Darcy had rinsed his hair, they wrestled Bucky out of the shower and into a towel.

Bucky was going to curl up on the floor of the bathroom, based on his lack of response to Steve’s prodding to ‘stand up’, but Darcy shamed him into dragging his sorry ass to the bedroom. “Steve is totally going to bridal carry you to bed if you don’t get up,” she told him, sharing a tired smile with Steve. He loved it that was she still staying saucy for them, even though she’d been through a lot too. 

They managed to get Bucky dry and into sweatpants, and he staggered between them to the bedroom. He made a token resistance at first, mumbling a protest that he’d tried to kill Darcy earlier, but Darcy and Steve both just pressed him down into the bed and snuggled into either side. 

Steve reached across Bucky’s stomach and laced his fingers through Darcy’s. Bucky had fallen asleep almost as soon as he had hit the bed, and Darcy wasn’t far behind, based on her drooping eyes. 

“Helluva first day of a new relationship,” she muttered with an exhausted smile, squeezing Steve’s fingers tight. 

He squeezed back. “At least we can relax a little now. One shadowy enemy from the past down and out of the way.” Then he remembered that he was mad at her. “You broke your promise, Darce. You were supposed to run when we told you to.”

She sighed deeply. “I’m sorry. But I couldn’t leave Bucky like that. It hurt too much.”

Steve couldn’t say anything to that. It had hurt too much. It had been like losing Bucky all over again and for a few terrible minutes, he’d felt that crushing loss. So he could understand why Darcy had stayed. 

“Worth fighting for,” she murmured softly, voice on the edge of sleep. “This. Us. Worth it.”

Steve took a long moment to look at them both. Bucky looked much better than he had earlier, although there were still lines of pain on his sleeping face. Darcy was smiling, cheek pressed to Bucky’s chest. Darcy was right. This was worth fighting for. He pillowed his head on Bucky’s shoulder and closed his eyes, finally allowing sleep to take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well gang, this is it. I hope you all enjoyed the journey. It was a blast to write. I’m looking forward to more stories once Captain America: the Winter Soldier comes out! I’d love to see more of this threesome, and more Darcy/Steve and Darcy/Bucky.
> 
> Thanks again to the wonderful jadzia_bear and her story “Some Nights”, which first introduced me to an OT3 I never even imagined I wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for the romcom scene. No excuse it all. It just struck me as awesome funny that Bucky would be watching a romcom.


End file.
